US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones
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After public outrage, a US Senator has posed questions to Apple about its deliberate slowdown of older iPhones due to aging battery issues. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), who chairs the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook questioning the level of transparency the tech giant should have provided users before slowing down its devices.
According to a Reuters' report, Thune writes in the letter that "the large volume of consumer criticism leveled against the company in light of its admission suggests that there should have been better transparency."
Thune asks Apple if the company had made any of these practices known in software update details and if users had the option to decline installing software updates. Thune then also questions if Apple considered offering free battery replacements to affected customers or rebates to those who had already paid full price for a battery replacement. Thune's deadline for Apple to reply with answers is January 23.
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I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
Such a waste of resources for this.
Sorry people, you want a 3 year old phone that will last all day, or be blazing fast and last for 30 minutes?
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This is absolute insanity... The way this government picks and chooses who to question and regulate is complete insanity. Let the market do it's thing, if people are that upset with Apple they'll stop buying their products. Simple as that.
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@bnrstnr said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
This is absolute insanity... The way this government picks and chooses who to question and regulate is complete insanity. Let the market do it's thing, if people are that upset with Apple they'll stop buying their products. Simple as that.
A free market depends on things like this being blocked. The senate is spot on to be looking into this. It is a serious crime to use software updates to intentionally cripple products that people have bought. The market doesn't have the power to fix this, this is why we have consumer protection laws.
If the government didn't look into this, THEN it would be picking and choosing.
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@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
That's a REALLY weird and wasteful bit of work to want moved to lawmakers.
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@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
That's a REALLY weird and wasteful bit of work to want moved to lawmakers.
Not to have them do the work them selves, but to get to the bottom of why budgets are so stretched that bridges across the US are literally moments away from falling apart and getting them fixed or replaced.
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@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
That's a REALLY weird and wasteful bit of work to want moved to lawmakers.
Not to have them do the work them selves, but to get to the bottom of why budgets are so stretched that bridges across the US are literally moments away from falling apart and getting them fixed or replaced.
That's normally a state issue. Do you often see this on federal highways?
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Also, do you feel that this is caused by vendor sabotage; or just a lack of investment? Because these are very different things. With Apple, they are looking into the intentional defrauding and illegal commerce of attacking consumers. With bridges, presumably, you are asking why the public hasn't voted for more funding.
Very different things conceptually. And the Senate seems to be being correct here. What good does "investigating votes" do?
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@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
A free market depends on things like this being blocked. The senate is spot on to be looking into this. It is a serious crime to use software updates to intentionally cripple products that people have bought. The market doesn't have the power to fix this, this is why we have consumer protection laws.
If the government didn't look into this, THEN it would be picking and choosing.I guess I didn't think of it like that. Probably because I don't see this as a malicious update, I view it as something similar to Intel's "Turbo Boost Technology." The current state of the device determines the processing power. Granted Intel markets this as a feature and is configurable in the bios, so quite a bit different in that regard.
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@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
That's a REALLY weird and wasteful bit of work to want moved to lawmakers.
Not to have them do the work them selves, but to get to the bottom of why budgets are so stretched that bridges across the US are literally moments away from falling apart and getting them fixed or replaced.
That's normally a state issue. Do you often see this on federal highways?
States ask the fed for money all the time, which is what I hear all of the time. I don't generally travel so far that I'd hit federal roads or bridges.
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@bnrstnr said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
A free market depends on things like this being blocked. The senate is spot on to be looking into this. It is a serious crime to use software updates to intentionally cripple products that people have bought. The market doesn't have the power to fix this, this is why we have consumer protection laws.
If the government didn't look into this, THEN it would be picking and choosing.I guess I didn't think of it like that. Probably because I don't see this as a malicious update, I view it as something similar to Intel's "Turbo Boost Technology." The current state of the device determines the processing power. Granted Intel markets this as a feature and is configurable in the bios, so quite a bit different in that regard.
Well, that's what they are asking... WAS it a malicious update? Or even if it was accidental, did it end up being accidental in a way that isn't allowed?
It's a fine line, and that's why this is an investigation, not a punishment. They want to get to the bottom of this and understand where people are protected, and where they are not.
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@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
That's a REALLY weird and wasteful bit of work to want moved to lawmakers.
Not to have them do the work them selves, but to get to the bottom of why budgets are so stretched that bridges across the US are literally moments away from falling apart and getting them fixed or replaced.
That's normally a state issue. Do you often see this on federal highways?
States ask the fed for money all the time, which is what I hear all of the time. I don't generally travel so far that I'd hit federal roads or bridges.
The fed only has purview on federal roads, though. If it is an Interstate bridge, they can look into it. If it is not, they cannot.
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@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
I'd rather the US senate work on paving my roads and repairing the bridges then grilling Apple of their product design.
Such a waste of resources for this.
Sorry people, you want a 3 year old phone that will last all day, or be blazing fast and last for 30 minutes?
I want the choice.. but yeah.. this is a matter for the free market to handle, not congress. Just like all that wasted time with the sports crap!
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@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
Sorry people, you want a 3 year old phone that will last all day, or be blazing fast and last for 30 minutes?
I want my phone to work like it did the day it came out of the factory. At the point I have to keep my phone tethered to a power supply, it might be time for me to look into a new phone (or having my battery replaced).
NB: We just had to go through this with my Wife's phone.
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@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@bnrstnr said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
A free market depends on things like this being blocked. The senate is spot on to be looking into this. It is a serious crime to use software updates to intentionally cripple products that people have bought. The market doesn't have the power to fix this, this is why we have consumer protection laws.
If the government didn't look into this, THEN it would be picking and choosing.I guess I didn't think of it like that. Probably because I don't see this as a malicious update, I view it as something similar to Intel's "Turbo Boost Technology." The current state of the device determines the processing power. Granted Intel markets this as a feature and is configurable in the bios, so quite a bit different in that regard.
Well, that's what they are asking... WAS it a malicious update? Or even if it was accidental, did it end up being accidental in a way that isn't allowed?
It's a fine line, and that's why this is an investigation, not a punishment. They want to get to the bottom of this and understand where people are protected, and where they are not.
OK fine, but why does this need to be a congressional thing and not just a federal attorney in a federal court, etc.
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@dafyre said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
Sorry people, you want a 3 year old phone that will last all day, or be blazing fast and last for 30 minutes?
I want my phone to work like it did the day it came out of the factory. At the point I have to keep my phone tethered to a power supply, it might be time for me to look into a new phone (or having my battery replaced).
NB: We just had to go through this with my Wife's phone.
So you'd opt to charge your phone 24x7 rather than have a phone the last the entire day but gets slower?
Are you trolling me?
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@dafyre said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
Sorry people, you want a 3 year old phone that will last all day, or be blazing fast and last for 30 minutes?
I want my phone to work like it did the day it came out of the factory. At the point I have to keep my phone tethered to a power supply, it might be time for me to look into a new phone (or having my battery replaced).
NB: We just had to go through this with my Wife's phone.
I'm totally fine with Apple having a switch - burn my battery to the ground, or super power saver mode.. but give me the choice.
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I liken this to the situation where Apple laptops have horrible performance when their batteries die/go bad/are removed.
I.e. an Apple laptop is absolutely not meant to be used without a functional battery, it's that integrated into the system.
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@dashrender said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@bnrstnr said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@scottalanmiller said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
A free market depends on things like this being blocked. The senate is spot on to be looking into this. It is a serious crime to use software updates to intentionally cripple products that people have bought. The market doesn't have the power to fix this, this is why we have consumer protection laws.
If the government didn't look into this, THEN it would be picking and choosing.I guess I didn't think of it like that. Probably because I don't see this as a malicious update, I view it as something similar to Intel's "Turbo Boost Technology." The current state of the device determines the processing power. Granted Intel markets this as a feature and is configurable in the bios, so quite a bit different in that regard.
Well, that's what they are asking... WAS it a malicious update? Or even if it was accidental, did it end up being accidental in a way that isn't allowed?
It's a fine line, and that's why this is an investigation, not a punishment. They want to get to the bottom of this and understand where people are protected, and where they are not.
OK fine, but why does this need to be a congressional thing and not just a federal attorney in a federal court, etc.
Probably because they are considering anti-trust action.
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@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dafyre said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
@dustinb3403 said in US Senate Questions Apple About Intentional Slowdown of iPhones:
Sorry people, you want a 3 year old phone that will last all day, or be blazing fast and last for 30 minutes?
I want my phone to work like it did the day it came out of the factory. At the point I have to keep my phone tethered to a power supply, it might be time for me to look into a new phone (or having my battery replaced).
NB: We just had to go through this with my Wife's phone.
So you'd opt to charge your phone 24x7 rather than have a phone the last the entire day but gets slower?
Are you trolling me?
No, I'm not trolling. My wife literally had to do this (it was a faulty battery). It's too easy to keep a phone charged. Just plug in a USB cable to wall wart, or laptop, or car charger, or battery pack. It's not ideal, but as I said in my post... When you have to keep your phone tethered to something for power, it's time to get a new phone or a battery replaced.
