Apple Fined EUR 25 Mln In France For Slowing Down Older IPhone Models

(RTTNews) - Apple has been fined 25 million euros by a French regulator for deliberately slowing down older iPhone models without notifying users.

France's competition and fraud watchdog DGCCRF said iPhone customers "were not informed that installing iOS updates (10.2.1 and 11.2) could slow down their devices".

As part of the settlement, Apple must display a notice on its French-language website for a month acknowledging the fine.

Many customers had long suspected that Apple slowed down older iPhones to encourage people to upgrade when a new one was released.

In 2017, Apple confirmed that it did slow down some iPhones, but said it only did so to "prolong the life" of the devices.

Apple said the lithium-ion batteries in the devices became less capable of supplying peak current demands, as they aged over time.

That could result in an iPhone unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

So, it released a software update for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE which "smoothed out" battery performance, the company said.