France Fines Apple 25 Million Euro for Secretly Slowing Down iPhones

The General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control in France has fined Apple 25 million euro for secretly slowing down iPhones back in 2017.

The fine follows an investigation that was launched in 2018 by the Paris Prosecutor's Office.

Here's the full press release (Google Translated):


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Following an investigation by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF) and after the agreement of the Public Prosecutor of Paris, the Apple group agreed to pay a fine of 25 M € in the context of a criminal transaction.

Seized on January 5, 2018 by the Paris Prosecutor's Office to investigate the complaint of an association against Apple, the DGCCRF has indeed shown that iPhone owners had not been informed that the updates of the iOS operating system (10.2.1 and 11.2) they installed were likely to slow down the operation of their device.

These updates, released during 2017, included a dynamic power management device which, under certain conditions and especially when the batteries were old, could slow down the operation of the iPhone 6, SE models. and 7.

Unable to revert to the previous version of the operating system, many consumers would have been forced to change their batteries or even buy a new phone.


The National Service of Investigations of the DGCCRF therefore transmitted to the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office in 2019 the conclusions of its investigations finding that this lack of consumer information constituted a misleading commercial practice by omission. With the agreement of the public prosecutor, the Apple group - which accepted it - was offered a transaction comprising the payment of the sum of € 25 million and the publication, for one month, of a press release on its website.
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Apple replaced over 11 million iPhone batteries for $29 in 2018 in a successful attempt to avoid a recall of devices. Unfortunately, this is a temporary fix for users who will see their devices slow again once those replacement batteries degrade. If your iPhone 6, SE, or 7 begins to slow down, it's quite similar to replace the battery yourself or you can have Apple change it once more.
● iPhone 6 Replacement Battery - $17.95
● iPhone 7 Replacement Battery - $27.44
● iPhone SE Replacement Battery - $19.94

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