FILE PHOTO: A man takes photos of iPhones at Apple’s new flagship store on its opening day after an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Sanlitun in Beijing, China, July 17, 2020. REUTERS / Thomas Peter / File Photo
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Arizona is leading a state investigation across the United States to determine whether the deliberate slowdown of old Apple Inc iPhones violated deceptive business practice laws, documents reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday showed.
Last week, a separate document released by a technology watchdog group showed that the Texas attorney general could sue Apple for such violations in connection with a multi-state investigation, without specifying charges.
In the ongoing investigation since at least October 2018, researchers asked Apple for data on “unexpected shutdowns” of iPhones and the throttling or slowdown of the company’s devices through power management software, the documents showed. obtained by Reuters through a request for public records.
The attorneys’ general offices in Arizona and Texas declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple came under fire in 2017 when Primate Labs, the maker of software to measure a phone’s processor speeds, revealed that some iPhones slowed down as they aged.
Later, Apple acknowledged that it reduced power demands, which can slow down the processor, when the battery in an older phone has trouble supplying the maximum current the processor demands. Apple said that without its adjustments, iPhones would have unexpectedly shutdown due to power spikes.
Outraged iPhone users said that seemed to confirm long-standing suspicions that Apple slowed down older devices to encourage users to buy new phones. Apple publicly apologized and cut prices for battery replacements.
Earlier this year, Apple agreed to pay up to $ 500 million to settle a class action lawsuit related to battery problems.
Reports by Paresh Dave and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Richard Chang
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