Apple iPhones slowing down getting fresh lawsuits in Europe

Apple facing public backlash around the world on slowing down iPhones
European consumer watchdogs filing cases throughout Europe
Apple settled case in US failed one in  Europe, more expected

Euroconsumers, an advocacy group is set to sue Apple for about €180m in four European countries for allegedly duping users into downloading updates that deliberately slowed down their iPhones. The class-action lawsuits cover up to 2 million iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus devices in Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Apple last month paid $113 million to settle an investigation in same matter by 34 American states, including California and Arizona. Els Bruggeman of Euroconsumers  is expecting the said settlement as a benchmark by saying,” We’re being asked to be treated with the same fairness and respect as US consumers,”. However efforts of out of court settlement were fruitless and If the lawsuits succeed, it could cost Apple €180 million ($217 million) in total, based on Euroconsumers estimates of the number of devices affected.

Apple acknowledges updates slow older iPhones

Earlier in 2017 the French fraud watchdog DGCCRF, fined Apple 25 million euros for deliberately slowing down older iPhone models without making it clear to consumers. It said consumers were not warned.

Apple (AAPL) said that a recent software update helped prevent iPhones from suddenly shutting down and it had “never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product. The company  promised to replace iPhone 6 or later batteries for $29 — a $50 discount.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251204250

In 2017 Apple was accused about software updates designed to prevent the batteries in older iPhones from crashing also slowed the devices down which at the end forces consumer to upgrade the set and hence selling new models in the market.

Apple explained that the lithium-ion batteries in the phones age, they can’t handle processing demands at the same capacity, which causes the phone to shut down unexpectedly. The company released an update to stop those unexpected shutdowns, which also means the phones work a little more slowly.

(Report by Sayyad Abidi)