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Apple under criminal investigation for throttling

by on31 January 2018


DoJ and Securities and Exchange Commission want an explanation

It seems that Apple’s battery throttling antics have sparked a criminal investigation.

The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Apple about its updates that slowed performance on iPhones with older batteries.

Sources speaking to Bloomberg said that the agencies are looking into whether Apple violated securities laws regarding disclosures about its updates that throttled older iPhones.

So far, the DOJ and SEC have requested information from Apple. Because the investigation is still early, it's unclear if the agencies will take action against Apple.

Apple is known to the DoJ and has previous convictions after Steve Jobs organised an illegal book buying cartel with book publishers to push up book prices and damage Amazon’s business.

The Tame Apple Press feels that Apple is being picked on over the throttling thing.  For example, PhoneDog takes great pains to point out that Apple had apologised for not being clearer about its actions after the news of its performance-throttling updates came out.

“The good news is that Apple will be more transparent about iPhone battery health and performance in the future, but for now, it'll have to deal with the DOJ and SEC.”

However, more cynical types think that Apple was hamstringing its older phones to force their owners to upgrade. The fact it had not told them about the battery throttling just meant that many users would have thought their phones were on their way out and just needed replacing. The only reason it is "more transparent" now is that it was caught. 

Last modified on 31 January 2018
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