South Korea and Italy also start investigating iPhone delays

Consumer groups in South Korea and Italy have announced they are investigating Apple’s intentional slowing down of battery-depleted iPhones. With this they succeed the French government, which is also conducting such an investigation.

South Korean consumer group Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty sued Apple on Thursday for fraud and property destruction, Reuters reports. The organization also represents 120 plaintiffs in a damages lawsuit against Apple.

In Italy, both Apple and Samsung are under investigation over allegations that both companies are slowing down their phones with updates. According to Reuters, the antitrust watchdog said the two companies had failed to inform their customers about the potential performance impacts of their system updates.

It is striking that Samsung is also included in the Italian research. There have been no complaints from Samsung smartphone users that their phone has become slower due to an update.

Apple, on the other hand, admitted in December that the company is deliberately slowing down iPhones with worn-out batteries to prevent them from suddenly failing. The French government has launched an investigation into these practices.

In response to the criticism, Apple has now announced that it will reduce the costs for replacing the battery to 29 euros throughout 2018. The company is also working on an iOS update that will give users the option to choose whether they want to slow down their iPhone.