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Apple Company
Apple agreed to pay $ 113 million to complete an investigation by 34 states and Washington, DC, into “deliberately slowing down” older versions of iPhones, a case known as “Patricket.”
“Big tech companies should stop manipulating consumers and tell them the whole truth about their practices and products,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Bernowitz, whose state led the investigation.
Under the agreement, the company will pay Arizona $ 5 million and the remainder of the amount will be distributed to other states, according to the Washington Post.
Although it accepted the agreement, the company insists it made no mistakes and said the agreement should not be construed as “an admission of any violation of the law, rules and regulations” and that it did so only “to terminate the investigation “.
The problem arose, in 2017, when users complained about the decrease in the performance of their phones and explained that because of the company’s attempt to pressure them to buy newer and more expensive devices.
Apple admitted at the time that it used software updates to slow down old iPhones, shortly after angry customers and tech analysts announced that the updates had caused drops in performance. Some of them suggested that the company did it to force users to buy the latest version of their iPhone, but the company said it aims to address the problems of old lithium-ion batteries that would cause phones to suddenly shut down to protect its components.
Later, Apple apologized and offered battery replacements to customers for $ 79, which became $ 29 in January 2018. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, admitted a year later that the company’s revenue in 2018 they were hit in part by “a big price cut to replace iPhone batteries.”
And several US states opened an investigation into the matter, leading to this agreement, on Wednesday, under which Apple will pay this bill.
