Apple Was Fined Rp. 374 Billion Because Old IPhone Became Slow

Apple Store (TechCrunch)

JAKARTA - Apple was fined US $ 27.4 million (US) or the equivalent of Rp. 374 billion by the French competition supervisory agency (DGCCRF). This is because Apple is said to have deliberately lowered the performance of their older iPhone models, without notifying users first.

Quoting Business Insider, Apple is alleged to have misled customers by not telling them about the change, and took this decision without negotiating with the French government.

This controversy first emerged in late 2017 when users noticed that the latest version of iOS was slowing down the performance of the old iPhone. After investigating, Apple admitted that it brought a number of new features to the iOS 10.2.1 and 11.2 updates.

DGCCRF said that Apple's biggest problem was that it never informed its users about it. Many of them don't realize that when they update their iOS, their device slows down immediately.

The smartphone manufacturer from Cupertino, USA also does not provide options for users so that their old iPhone devices do not slow down, such as changing the battery or removing some features and even downgrading their iOS update. As a result, many users feel that Apple is forcing them to buy a new iPhone by mistake.

Apple dismisses this, because some of the update features are designed to prevent the device from turning off unexpectedly, so that the iPhone can still be used. This update affects 1st generation iPhone 6, iPhone 7, and iPhone SE models.

After this issue became public, Apple apologized and offered an iPhone battery replacement program. The program, which is joined by 11 million users, requires them to pay 28 US dollars for a new iPhone battery.

Even though it has complained and paid a fine, DGCCRF still asked Apple to publish a statement on the matter on its official French website for approximately one month.

Apparently, this is not the first time this has been done by Apple. Earlier in 2018, the Italian government also fined Apple and Samsung around 5.7 million US dollars each for restricting the operation of old phones, and Apple received an additional fine of the same amount for not providing information to customers about how to replace batteries on their devices.