Apple today confirmed that it had received inquiries from U.S govt agencies over a software update that is slowed down aged iPhones’ performance and also clarified that it is responding to them. According to the sources, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are said to be investigating Apple to see whether it has violated any securities laws concerning its disclosures.
Since the inquiry is in early stages, it is too soon to conclude the outcome or if any enforcement will follow. Sources say that the Govt agencies are investigating the Apple’s public statements on the situation. The major concern here is to see if Apple may have misled investors about the performance of older phones.
On the other hand, there were reports yesterday saying that Apple might have postponed key software features like home screen redesign, etc. to focus on reliability and performance for iOS 12. Regarding the iPhone throttling issue, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook back in January told ABC News that “we did say what it was, but I don’t think a lot of people were paying attention. And maybe we should have been clearer.” Apple has apologized for not being transparent enough with the issue and has also offered discounts to replace batteries.
Apple has also mentioned that with its iOS 11.3 it plans to include new features that will let users monitor the health of the batteries and protect against slowdowns. The company said that it would include a toggle which when turned off will result in unexpected reboots.
Apple in a statement regarding the U.S govt inquiries said:
As we told our customers in December, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades. Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love. Making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.
We have received questions from some government agencies and we are responding to them.