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Apple responds to reports regarding the US Government's enquiry into throttling iPhones

Apple confirms the US Government's probe into the iPhone throttling controversy. (Source: Hypebeast)
Apple confirms the US Government's probe into the iPhone throttling controversy. (Source: Hypebeast)
Apple confirmed that the US Government has asked questions regarding intentional throttling of old iPhones and reaffirmed that it would not degrade the customer experience to force upgrades.

Apple has confirmed that the US Government is probing into the throttling of older iPhones — a move that has caused quite a flutter among tech circles and consumers alike. Acknowledging the probe by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Cupertino-giant has said that it has no intention to "degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades".

The first reports of iPhones slowing down due to ageing batteries came last December when users reported that replacing old batteries with new ones improved the benchmark scores of their iPhones. Soon it turned into a furore and let to the filing of class action lawsuits against Apple. Apple responded by explaining in detail the reason for the throttling and reduced the price of replacement batteries. The company also said that upcoming iOS releases will be more transparent about battery ageing and will give options to the user to override the throttling. 

While Apple's builtin protection against random shutdowns due to battery spikes is welcome, the company could have done a better job at communicating the same to its users. With mobile phones advanced at a rapid pace and manufacturers yearning for more sales year-on-year, users are concerned about planned obsolescence measures that some OEMs resort to. At least, now we know that intentional performance degradation is not one of those plans, at least by Apple.

The full statement by Apple can be seen in the press release below.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 02 > Apple responds to reports regarding the US Government's enquiry into throttling iPhones
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2018-02- 1 (Update: 2018-02- 1)