Apple faces Canadian class action for throttling down iPhones

A class action lawsuit was commenced on Friday, Feb. 23, in the Ontario Superior Court alleging that Apple substantially slowed iPhones without warning to or consent from consumers. This is part of the ongoing “Batterygate” brouhaha.

The claim alleges that Apple’s iOS software updates for iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, and 7 Plus were provided to iPhone users under the pretense that the software updates were necessary to deliver enhanced security and performance. In reality, however, the updates allowed Apple to slow down the performance of these updated iPhones. This practice is known as “throttling” because Apple intentionally slows the phone’s CPU.  

Although Apple’s slowing of iPhones began at some point in 2016 this practice was only exposed in December 2017 through a study conducted by John Poole at Primate Labs.

This class action lawsuit includes all owners of iPhone models 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, and 7 Plus, and alleges that Apple’s actions violated Consumer Protection Act legislation. In December 2017 Apple published an apology letter to customers in regards to “Batterygate” for slowing down older phones to compensate for erratic battery performance. 

The tech giant is offering $29 replacement batteries for those with an iPhone 6 or later. The discount, which represents a $50 savings, starts in late January and ends in December 2018. Apple will also add more battery health information to iOS to let users know when the battery begins to compromise performance.