Apple has been fined € 25 million in France for deliberately slowing down older iPhone phones. The fine was imposed by the French Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (DGCCRF), according to which the firm had not sufficiently informed its customers of its action.
In 2017, Apple confirmed that the performance of older iPhones was limited in some cases. However, the reason was to prolong the life of these devices and not to encourage customers to buy newer models.
Older phones, according to Apple, have lost the ability to supply the necessary power at full processor power, which could cause the device to shut down accidentally. Therefore, the company has prepared an operating system update to adapt the performance of the phones to battery status. According to the French authorities, however, phone owners were not informed that installing this update may slow their device.