Lawsuit claims iOS 14 battery drain bug is example of planned obsolescence

AppleInsider · June 7, 2021 9:23PM

Apple has been hit with a lawsuit claiming that recent iOS software updates "damaged iPhones by dramatically lowing processing speeds and battery life."

Credit: AppleInsiderCredit: AppleInsider

The lawsuit claims that a slew of users have been reporting problems with iOS 14.5, iOS 14.5.1, and iOS 14.6 related to performance throttling and battery drain.

More specifically, the complaint attempts to draw a connection between battery drain and performance bugs and allegations of planned obsolescence.

"Apple benefits from not having to tell existing and prospective iPhone users that updates touted to add desirable features and to fix security and other bugs have a significant countervailing downside in the form of decreased processing speed and battery life," the complaint reads.

The lawsuit alleges that "degrading device performance ahead of product launches may also allow Apple to drum up demand for faster phones with longer battery life."

Essentially, the lawsuit alleges that Apple is ostensibly trying to trick users into downloading software updates so that it can slow down iPhones in an attempt to get users to buy new ones.

The complaint, which seeks class status, asks for an enjoinment on the alleged practices and damages.

Interestingly, the lawsuit says that users cannot individually download an update's security patches without downloading the entire update. Apple recently announced that it would change that behavior at WWDC 2021.

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DAalseth · June 7, 2021 9:38PM

And once again the parasites are circling. Of course in a couple of weeks when the next update fixes this, that won’t end the suit, because it isn’t about going after Apple for wrongdoing. It’s about greed.

maestro64 · June 7, 2021 9:42PM

You can not say Apple is throttling your phone performance at the same time as causing your battery life to be shorten. Throttling should increasing battery life.

These people need decide whether their performance has gone in the hole or the battery life.

I personally think these people have older phones which were fast in their day and then they see their friends new phones running the latest iOS and they get phone envy then think the iOS caused the phone to slow down or they just noticed the 3 yr old battery is not what it use be. I seen old battery work okay one week then the next week they do not what you hold a charge.

geekmee · June 7, 2021 9:59PM

Jesse James was once asked why he robbed banks?
He replied “Because that’s where the money is.”

pulseimages · June 7, 2021 10:21PM

I don’t blame Apple for my SE 2016 running slow. It’s 5 years old and on it’s second battery.

StrangeDays · June 7, 2021 10:22PM

The lawsuit alleges that "degrading device performance ahead of product launches may also allow Apple to drum up demand for faster phones with longer battery life."

lol, this is made up nonsense. Good luck with that.

StrangeDays · June 7, 2021 10:26PM

geekmee said:

Jesse James was once asked why he robbed banks?
He replied “Because that’s where the money is.”

Quote is credited to Willie Sutton in the 1950s, but he contests it.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/willie-sutton/

chadbag · June 7, 2021 11:07PM

The lawyers filing these should be disbarred. They know they are bogus.

h4y3s · June 8, 2021 12:17AM

People cannot comprehend that processors get 80% or so faster every year, and that lack (of comprehension) brings up these issues. I tell folks that computers (and more so phones) age in dog years!

(It’s actually even worse).

It helps, but only a little.

I like that Apple has decided to split the new updates features/ security! We shall see.

hammeroftruth · June 8, 2021 1:20AM

Even if Apple offered the security updates separately as an update, they would still blame their failing battery on it and not due to usage.

That battery upgrade program opened up a can of worms that still plagues Apple.

The fact that they acquiesced rather than roll back that update and just give the user a message that their battery is depleted and may shut down unexpectedly is why you’ll see lawsuits like this.

dtownwarrior · June 8, 2021 3:39AM

DAalseth said:

And once again the parasites are circling. Of course in a couple of weeks when the next update fixes this, that won’t end the suit, because it isn’t about going after Apple for wrongdoing. It’s about greed.

Greed will be the downfall of America!!

lkrupp · June 8, 2021 12:37PM

StrangeDays said:

The lawsuit alleges that "degrading device performance ahead of product launches may also allow Apple to drum up demand for faster phones with longer battery life."

lol, this is made up nonsense. Good luck with that.

Made up nonsense it is, but you forget the IQ of the average jury member, hand picked by the plaintiff’s lawyers, predisposed to hand out money no matter what.

mike1 · June 8, 2021 12:54PM

They should just get a jump on the iOS15 lawsuits now. Why not?

JWSC · June 8, 2021 1:57PM

DAalseth said:

And once again the parasites are circling. Of course in a couple of weeks when the next update fixes this, that won’t end the suit, because it isn’t about going after Apple for wrongdoing. It’s about greed.

Greed is neither here nor there. It's built in to most people. Better to have a system that utilizes it to everyone's advantage rather than fight against human nature and ultimately lose. Lawyers do serve a useful purpose in society. If someone does wrong its good to have a financially motivated lawyer going after their ass.

What is lacking in the U.S. judicial system is the "loser pays" principle in civil courts. That would make most lawyers think twice before filing what most would consider to be speculative and frivolous lawsuits like this.

sdw2001 · June 8, 2021 5:01PM

lkrupp said:

StrangeDays said:

The lawsuit alleges that "degrading device performance ahead of product launches may also allow Apple to drum up demand for faster phones with longer battery life."

lol, this is made up nonsense. Good luck with that.

Made up nonsense it is, but you forget the IQ of the average jury member, hand picked by the plaintiff’s lawyers, predisposed to hand out money no matter what.

Eh, maybe. It probably won't get that far. Apple will first try to get it dismissed for lack of evidence. I don't see what evidence they could have beyond their nonsense coincidental Muh pHoNe bRoKe WhEn aPpLe CoMpUtErS cAmE oUt wiF nEw 1's.

srslydude · June 8, 2021 6:32PM

Not this crap again.. Dude they are literally supporting 5 + year phones (iphone 6s!) still! iOS 15 will be compatible. This so called "planned obsolescence" is absolute non-sense. Stop going after Apple and focus on all of the Android manufacturers that leave consumers high an dry less than 1 - 2 years with ZERO update support. .

maestro64 · June 8, 2021 7:47PM

hammeroftruth said:

Even if Apple offered the security updates separately as an update, they would still blame their failing battery on it and not due to usage.
That battery upgrade program opened up a can of worms that still plagues Apple.

The fact that they acquiesced rather than roll back that update and just give the user a message that their battery is depleted and may shut down unexpectedly is why you’ll see lawsuits like this.

I just read that certain Apple security and privacy feature will not be allowed in China staring with iOS 15, because they violate various laws in China. I wonder if part of Apple's decision to separating updates into features and security updates is to stay in compliance with China's laws. Just recently i saw updates for me wireless router which said everywhere but China and China had their own update. Not sure how my keep Chinese people from down load either if they can get to the website.

simpleuser · June 8, 2021 8:35PM

I purchased my iPhone 11 7 months ago. I'm not a heavy user but I am consistent in my daily use of only a few simple apps like mail, pandora, safari, and messages. I've been satisfied with my iPhone and had no reason to scrutinize my battery usage but have observed when plugging it in for charging every night that the phone reported about 80 percent battery was left. That seemed fair and reasonable for a new phone. Occasional use of the camera or maps app added a bit more drain as I would expect. A week ago I upgraded to 14.6 and that night noticed the icon showed more battery usage than usual. I've watched it more closely for the week and the charge report when I plug it in is now down around 70 percent daily. I looked at the battery usage graph for the last 10 days and it is consistently greater(around 10 percent more) following the day of my iOS upgrade. I haven't even finished paying for this phone and it has at least 10 percent less reliable time between charges which I consider part of phone performance. I accept that for an old phone and understand advances in iOS will show as the hardware ages. But I also expect that Apple does a rigorous QA on the impact of their new code on battery power. I would think it proper that they should clearly inform people of the effect of new code on battery usage and leave that for the user to decide on upgrading or not or buying a new phone or not. I was not told that those security fixes would cost me 10% more daily in battery power. I should be the one to choose if what the upgrade brings is worth the tradeoff in battery power; not Apple. If this is something that is fixed in the next update then its a matter of "these things happen" and all is good. Otherwise I don't feel like participating in a steady path that obsoletes my hardware.

nicholfd · June 9, 2021 4:22PM

Correlation does not indicate causation.

Just because you installed an update and then noticed "less" battery life (unscientifically), does not indicate the update was the cause.

Did you even look in the Settings app to see what was consuming the battery? Did you time your usage of the apps? Do you monitor the availability of cellular signal/availability (low/poor cell connectivity will drain a battery, even if you are not using the cellular service - it uses more power to stay connected)?

There could be lots of things that cause your battery indicator to be less at the end of the day. There is no conclusion here.

maestro64 · June 9, 2021 6:03PM

nicholfd said:

Correlation does not indicate causation.

Just because you installed an update and then noticed "less" battery life (unscientifically), does not indicate the update was the cause.

Did you even look in the Settings app to see what was consuming the battery? Did you time your usage of the apps? Do you monitor the availability of cellular signal/availability (low/poor cell connectivity will drain a battery, even if you are not using the cellular service - it uses more power to stay connected)?

There could be lots of things that cause your battery indicator to be less at the end of the day. There is no conclusion here.

The science is these people feeling that is all that matter these days.

Lawsuit claims iOS 14 battery drain bug is example of planned obsolescence

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