US DOJ, SEC investigating how Apple handled throttling of aging iPhone batteries
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are reportedly starting to look into if Apple violated securities laws, regarding how it informed consumers about the iOS update that implemented the throttling of chemically depleted batteries in iOS 10.2.1.
According to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday citing its own sources, the government has requested information from Apple regarding the matter. Allegedly, the inquiry is in the early stages, and it is far too soon to assume that a formal investigation will start, or if any enforcement is likely.
AppleInsider was unable to confirm the information request, and at present there is no publicly available paper trail suggesting that an investigation is underway.
Apple has been under fire since it admitted to throttling processor performance on some older iPhone models last month.
In December, a Reddit user detailed what appeared to be evidence of CPU throttling on iPhones with chemically depleted batteries, claims that were later backed up by Geekbench's John Poole. Aggregating multiple iPhone benchmark tests, Poole found a correlation in iPhone slowdowns, battery wear and iOS version, with a noted change in performance apparent between iOS 10.2 and iOS 10.2.1.
Apple released iOS 10.2.1 in 2016 to deal with unexpected shutdowns afflicting iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE models, and noted in release notes that it had done so. However, the company failed to specifically disclose at the time how the firmware fixed the apparent problem.
In a statement from December, Apple said the software update's feature helps "smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions." The same technology has been carried forward with iOS 11.2 to cover the iPhone 7, and Apple says the feature will be carried forward in future products.
Apple's forthcoming iOS 11.3 will have the ability to disable the battery throttling, at the cost of phone stability -- potentially leading to an under-voltage crash.
Customers who took offense to Apple's lack of transparency on the matter began to file class-action lawsuits. More than 40 complaints have been filed in the U.S. so far, including a case being handled by Hagens Berman, the consumer rights law firm that successfully obtained a $450 million settlement from Apple over e-book price fixing in 2015.
Apple apologized for not communicating the implementation to iPhone owners. At the same time, the company dropped the cost of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29 in a play for positive customer sentiment.
Sen. John Thune (R - S. Dak.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, asked Apple a series of questions to suss out the company's policies on slowing down iPhones with depleted battery cells. Thune asked how Apple is tracking customer complaints related to the processor slowdown issue, and whether the company was looking into rebates for iPhone owners who paid full price for a battery replacement prior to the discount offer.
Since the note, AppleInsider learned that the cutoff date for a reduced-price refund goes back to Dec. 1, 2017, but no earlier as a matter of procedure. However, there have been limited reports of successes for a bit earlier in the year.
French regulators initiated an investigation into identical issues on Jan. 7. In that case, the DGCCRF anti-fraud agency is following up on a private complaint by Stop Planned Obsolescence.
Should the data-gathering turn into an investigation, similar examinations of Silicon Valley companies have taken years to resolve.
According to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday citing its own sources, the government has requested information from Apple regarding the matter. Allegedly, the inquiry is in the early stages, and it is far too soon to assume that a formal investigation will start, or if any enforcement is likely.
AppleInsider was unable to confirm the information request, and at present there is no publicly available paper trail suggesting that an investigation is underway.
Apple has been under fire since it admitted to throttling processor performance on some older iPhone models last month.
In December, a Reddit user detailed what appeared to be evidence of CPU throttling on iPhones with chemically depleted batteries, claims that were later backed up by Geekbench's John Poole. Aggregating multiple iPhone benchmark tests, Poole found a correlation in iPhone slowdowns, battery wear and iOS version, with a noted change in performance apparent between iOS 10.2 and iOS 10.2.1.
Apple released iOS 10.2.1 in 2016 to deal with unexpected shutdowns afflicting iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE models, and noted in release notes that it had done so. However, the company failed to specifically disclose at the time how the firmware fixed the apparent problem.
In a statement from December, Apple said the software update's feature helps "smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions." The same technology has been carried forward with iOS 11.2 to cover the iPhone 7, and Apple says the feature will be carried forward in future products.
Apple's forthcoming iOS 11.3 will have the ability to disable the battery throttling, at the cost of phone stability -- potentially leading to an under-voltage crash.
Customers who took offense to Apple's lack of transparency on the matter began to file class-action lawsuits. More than 40 complaints have been filed in the U.S. so far, including a case being handled by Hagens Berman, the consumer rights law firm that successfully obtained a $450 million settlement from Apple over e-book price fixing in 2015.
Apple apologized for not communicating the implementation to iPhone owners. At the same time, the company dropped the cost of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29 in a play for positive customer sentiment.
Sen. John Thune (R - S. Dak.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, asked Apple a series of questions to suss out the company's policies on slowing down iPhones with depleted battery cells. Thune asked how Apple is tracking customer complaints related to the processor slowdown issue, and whether the company was looking into rebates for iPhone owners who paid full price for a battery replacement prior to the discount offer.
Since the note, AppleInsider learned that the cutoff date for a reduced-price refund goes back to Dec. 1, 2017, but no earlier as a matter of procedure. However, there have been limited reports of successes for a bit earlier in the year.
French regulators initiated an investigation into identical issues on Jan. 7. In that case, the DGCCRF anti-fraud agency is following up on a private complaint by Stop Planned Obsolescence.
Should the data-gathering turn into an investigation, similar examinations of Silicon Valley companies have taken years to resolve.
Comments
Getting caught BY consumers while doing something that consumers might not want you to do is a lot worse than openly declaring a possibility undesirable function before, or as, it arrives.
Especially when the PR statement that's finally used to dismiss consumers' legitimate anger recharacterizes the function's primary purpose: avoiding dealing with defects/design mistakes on a wider scale than the silent recall they did for certain serial-numbered phones.
In fact, if there was a "wider scale" for the alleged "design mistakes," the area under the curve from Geekbench for the throttled phones would be way higher.
I understand where you're coming from and your complaint of Apple's "hubris", but I think you're off the mark here.
This might not end well.
The people/media/politicians complaining about this do not understand that Apple did this to make the phones work better, not worse.
A worn-out battery not only lasts less time per charge, but also has more limited instantaneous power output compared to a new battery.
As a result, when a phone is used in an extreme power-hungry way (for example, web surfing, screen on full bright, and making a call), the battery could drop below its usable voltage range and the phone could go dead (maybe dropping an important call) with no warning.
The intentional slight slowdown of the phone is to preserve its ability to perform as the user would expect, even though the battery is performing much worse than a new battery.
Your opinions on Cook devaluing the company are peculiar considering its revenue and cash horde. I think Thursday’s earnings call will make this claim look absurd.
These assholes in government would NEVER run their private businesses the way they run this government.
iOS 10.2.1
iOS 10.2.1 includes bug fixes and improves the security of your iPhone or iPad.
It also improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns on iPhone.
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/HT201222
Battery's age. They have only so many charge cycles. If anything, what Apple did, Prolong the life of the phone so people wouldn't have to upgrade their phone, or get a replacement battery. They can keep on doing what they were doing.
My iPhone 6 is running much better into it's 4th year than my iPhone 4 into it's 4th year. I think you're a sucker replacing your phone every 1 or 2 years. Apple sure doesn't force you to upgrade.
By the way, these SPEED tests Are doing exactly what Apple is trying to STOP. When you're maxing out the CPU, that's the greatest load on the battery. When you're testing, it's for a period of time, that's a long load on the battery and of course the CPU is going to show the greatest hit in speed as it tries to slow it's self down so it doesn't crash. This is not how your phone normally runs. Where you get short bursts of top speed. This whole thing is just dumb. So many clueless people. Oh no, the world is ending!!!
What I would like to see is a larger battery with a litter more power then needed. That way as the battery gets old and it's peek top power starts dropping, it can last a little longer powering the CPU needs. Besides I would like a battery that could last all day if you use it more then a little bit. My iPhone 6 currently is at 35% and it's only 3:12PM right now. I went to work at 7am. I've hardly used the phone. I have to say that's pretty bad. I'm going to have to get a new battery put into it and see if that makes it any better.
No one I’d want changing a plug in my house.