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Have you noticed your old iPhone or Galaxy device slowing down despite the regular updates? Apparently, both Apple and Samsung are doing this it on purpose.

The Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) started an investigation back in January to address the complaints regarding the “planned obsolescence” involving Apple and Samsung smartphones.

After months of investigation, the AGCM found out that the two tech giants are indeed guilty of deliberately slowing down their old phones in an attempt to force the user to upgrade to a new unit.

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Both companies were able to execute it through the firmware updates which “caused serious malfunctions and significantly reduced performance” of the affected devices. It’s also worth noting how pushy they are when notifying the users to install the update

The companies are also accused of not letting the users restore from the previous update version in case they are experiencing problems with the new one.

With that, both companies are fined with EUR5 Million (~Php300 Million), which is the maximum fine that the government agency can post. They are also required to display on their Italian websites the agency’s decision.

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Other than the aforementioned penalty, Apple has been slapped with another EUR5 Million fine regarding the battery fiasco they had last 2017. It’s been found out that Apple was intentionally slowing down old iPhones to compensate for the degrading lithium batteries. Something that Apple didn’t disclose on their updates’ changelog.

Apple has since then apologized and lowered the price of their battery replacement program. The company even included a new Battery Health feature on the iOS 11.3 update, which will show the users if the battery is due for a replacement.

Source: The Guardian

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2 Comments

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  1. Hi Patrick,

    This was always on the cards. Apple and Samsung have been very pushy whenever they launch a new version. They try and convince their customers to get rid of their existing phone and buy the newer version which I think is quite tricky in nature. I am glad they have been fined for their action.

    Thanks for sharing, have a good day. :)