5 ms·

Apple Faces Another iPhone Lawsuit over 'Programmed Obsolescence'

21 points by mromanuk 6y ago

imwillofficial 6y ago
Lawsuits like this waste everyone’s time and energy.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  Not if they are well-intentioned, like in this specific case.
  - pdpi 6y ago
    When I was a teen, we got the ProTeste magazine at home and I read every issue cover to cover. As I grew older and wiser it became clearer that both their product reviews and their editorial content was misguided at best, wrong verging on malicious at worst. I don’t want to assume I’ll-intent here, but I’m not willing to dismiss it out of hand either.
KMnO4 6y ago
Seems to be no way to win. > I hate how Apple lets me update my phone even though performance will be worse on the latest iOS vs > I hate how Android vendors don’t ever let me update to a new version of Android
- webmobdev 6y ago
  Yes, there is - transparency and honesty. Apple rightly deserves the criticism for informing the users that the update may impact the performance of the phones and even make it nearly unusable.
  - GeekyBear 6y ago
    iOS 14 runs just fine on the oldest supported devices. >iOS 14 on the iPhone 6S and SE: Performance is fine https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/ios-14-on-the-iphone-6s-and-se-performance-is-fine-other-stuff-is-not/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/ios-14-on-the-iphone... The same thing was true for iOS 13. >iOS 13 on the iPhone 6S and SE: New software runs fine on a phone that’s still fast https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/ios-13-on-the-iphone-6s-and-se-new-software-runs-fine-on-a-phone-thats-still-fast/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/ios-13-on-the-iphone... True again with iOS 12. >iOS 12 on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini 2: It’s actually faster! https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/ios-12-on-the-iphone-5s-iphone-6-plus-and-ipad-mini-2-its-actually-faster/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/ios-12-on-the-iphone...
    - webmobdev 6y ago
      I say Orange and you say Apple - /s It is a fact that they were deliberately throttling the performance of iDevices whose battery life were weak, without informing the users about this. And the lawsuit against them about this successfully proved this. Whatever you say cannot brush away this fact.
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    Ate a word - I meant: Apple rightly deserves the criticism for not informing the users that the update may impact the performance of the phones and even make it nearly unusable.
- hjek 6y ago
  Now here's an outrageous idea: How about an update that fixes performance issues?
  - gruez 6y ago
    They did that: you could disable performance optimizations but it would also mean you get random shutdowns.
timwaagh 6y ago
I'm surprised it's Apple that's getting sued for this and not say, LG. In general Apple phones have much longer lifetime than most.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  Apple has more money.
- simonh 6y ago
  New iOS versions get bigger and run more services and more complex software, so since Apple makes new OS versions available to as many older models as possible, this is inevitable. It's not a problem on Android, because new OS versions rarely make it to older phone models. That doesn't mean this isn't a real problem. My wife's old iPhone 6 was noticeably slower than even my 6s, to the point where I dislike using it, but she just got used to it until we got her a new phone for Christmas.
  - nwmcsween 6y ago
    > ...It's not a problem on Android, because new OS versions rarely make it to older phone models. Umm no? LineageOS is running fine on my old devices from 2011-2013 today
    - simonh 6y ago
      The subject of this discussion is non-technical consumers selecting default options, getting their phone OS automatically updated and then wondering why their phone is a bit slower. They're not making an informed choice about upgrading their OS, and are getting an unexpected behaviour they're not happy about. This generally doesn't happen on Android because automatic major OS updates don't generally happen. You upgraded your phone yourself and you know what you're doing, so if you had a problem with performance or otherwise you've got no recourse against the carrier or phone manufacturer.

21 points by mromanuk 6y ago

imwillofficial 6y ago

Lawsuits like this waste everyone’s time and energy.

webmobdev 6y ago
Not if they are well-intentioned, like in this specific case.
- pdpi 6y ago
  When I was a teen, we got the ProTeste magazine at home and I read every issue cover to cover. As I grew older and wiser it became clearer that both their product reviews and their editorial content was misguided at best, wrong verging on malicious at worst. I don’t want to assume I’ll-intent here, but I’m not willing to dismiss it out of hand either.

KMnO4 6y ago

Seems to be no way to win. > I hate how Apple lets me update my phone even though performance will be worse on the latest iOS vs > I hate how Android vendors don’t ever let me update to a new version of Android

webmobdev 6y ago
Yes, there is - transparency and honesty. Apple rightly deserves the criticism for informing the users that the update may impact the performance of the phones and even make it nearly unusable.
- GeekyBear 6y ago
  iOS 14 runs just fine on the oldest supported devices. >iOS 14 on the iPhone 6S and SE: Performance is fine https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/ios-14-on-the-iphone-6s-and-se-performance-is-fine-other-stuff-is-not/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/ios-14-on-the-iphone... The same thing was true for iOS 13. >iOS 13 on the iPhone 6S and SE: New software runs fine on a phone that’s still fast https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/ios-13-on-the-iphone-6s-and-se-new-software-runs-fine-on-a-phone-thats-still-fast/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/ios-13-on-the-iphone... True again with iOS 12. >iOS 12 on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini 2: It’s actually faster! https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/ios-12-on-the-iphone-5s-iphone-6-plus-and-ipad-mini-2-its-actually-faster/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/ios-12-on-the-iphone...
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    I say Orange and you say Apple - /s It is a fact that they were deliberately throttling the performance of iDevices whose battery life were weak, without informing the users about this. And the lawsuit against them about this successfully proved this. Whatever you say cannot brush away this fact.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  Ate a word - I meant: Apple rightly deserves the criticism for not informing the users that the update may impact the performance of the phones and even make it nearly unusable.
hjek 6y ago
Now here's an outrageous idea: How about an update that fixes performance issues?
- gruez 6y ago
  They did that: you could disable performance optimizations but it would also mean you get random shutdowns.

timwaagh 6y ago

I'm surprised it's Apple that's getting sued for this and not say, LG. In general Apple phones have much longer lifetime than most.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago
Apple has more money.
simonh 6y ago
New iOS versions get bigger and run more services and more complex software, so since Apple makes new OS versions available to as many older models as possible, this is inevitable. It's not a problem on Android, because new OS versions rarely make it to older phone models. That doesn't mean this isn't a real problem. My wife's old iPhone 6 was noticeably slower than even my 6s, to the point where I dislike using it, but she just got used to it until we got her a new phone for Christmas.
- nwmcsween 6y ago
  > ...It's not a problem on Android, because new OS versions rarely make it to older phone models. Umm no? LineageOS is running fine on my old devices from 2011-2013 today
  - simonh 6y ago
    The subject of this discussion is non-technical consumers selecting default options, getting their phone OS automatically updated and then wondering why their phone is a bit slower. They're not making an informed choice about upgrading their OS, and are getting an unexpected behaviour they're not happy about. This generally doesn't happen on Android because automatic major OS updates don't generally happen. You upgraded your phone yourself and you know what you're doing, so if you had a problem with performance or otherwise you've got no recourse against the carrier or phone manufacturer.