Apple Sued After It Admits To Slowing Down Older IPhones

(RTTNews) - A lawsuit has been filed against Apple Inc. (AAPL) after the tech giant admitted to purposefully slowing down older iPhone models in order to prolong the life of the devices.

Apple said last Wednesday that it does take some measures to reduce power demands and keep the devices running at optimal performance if there is an older battery that has a lower battery charge.

Apple noted that lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, causing the device to unexpectedly shut down to protect its electronic components.

"Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future," Apple said in a statement.

However, two California residents, Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, have brought a class action lawsuit in California against Apple. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the central district of California.

The plaintiffs said that they have noted that their older iPhone models slow down when new models come out. They also said that Apple never requested consent, nor did they give consent to slow down their iPhones.

The plaintiffs alleged that they "suffered interferences to their iPhone usage due to the intentional slowdowns" caused by Apple.

They are seeking damages from Apple as the company's wrongful actions caused them to suffer economic damages and other harm for which they are entitled to compensation.