Stefan Mileschin

If our update makes your phone worse, we will tell you

A UK consumer watchdog has growled until Apple has agreed to notify consumers if future iOS software updates slow down or change the performance of an iPhone.

The pledge comes after the UK Competition and Markets Authority investigated in early 2018 after Apple was caught deliberately slowing down processor speeds through a software update on some iPhones to extend battery life.

Public pressure stemming from the revelation forced Apple to provide discounted $29 battery replacements that were cited by the company as one reason iPhone sales last holiday quarter were slower than expected.

That programme has ended along with the hope that Apple would never do that sort of thing again.

Apple acknowledged the issue after a benchmark software developer posted statistics to Reddit showing significant performance differences between software versions, sparking an avalanche of media coverage.

Apple has already set aside money to pay for class-action lawsuits that accuse it of intentionally shortening the life of products to drive customer upgrades.

“To ensure compliance with consumer law Apple has formally agreed to improve the information it provides to people about the battery health of their phones and the impact performance management software may have on their phones”, the UK government said on its website.

https://fudzilla.com/news/mobile/487...ow-down-pledge