Explainer · card C01 · 60 seconds
01 / 08 · Setup
MY iPHONE SLOWED DOWN.
battery dying?
02 / 08 · Tension
BATTERY ? UPDATE.
iOS 10.2.1 · January 2017
03 / 08 · Reveal
APPLE ADMITTED IT.
"for your own good" · December 2017
04 / 08 · Mechanism
old battery → iOS throttles CPU → iPhone seems worn out
Old battery
demand > deliverable
iOS throttling
hidden slowdown
side effect? or business model?
05 / 08 · Scale
iPhone 6, 6S, SE, 7. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DEVICES.
$500M
USD class action
$113M
USD 34 US AGs
€25M
EUR France
06 / 08 · Discovery
DECEMBER 2017
John Poole
Geekbench · Reddit
Apple
"Yes, we do that"
Italy · Garante
first European
iOS 11.3 change · "Battery Health" UI
07 / 08 · Penalties
$500M
class action In re Apple Device Performance Litigation (2020)
+ $113M USD 34 state AGs · €25M France · €10M Italy. Apple forced to introduce "Battery Health" UI.
08 / 08
BATTERYGATE
Planned obsolescence confirmed by internal documentation. And a consumer win in class action.
Card C01 in the Files.