Apple is facing another multistate probe into its practice of throttling older iPhones.
Reuters is reporting that Arizona is leading a multistate investigation into whether Apple is violating trade practice laws by deliberating slowing older iPhones.
The probe, which could also involve Texas, began in October 2018 and is trying to determine if Apple’s deliberate slowing down of older iPhones was in violation of deceptive trade practice laws.
Reuters said last week that the Texas AG was also investigating claims that Apple had deceived customers, though it gave no other details. Now, it says that Arizona’s probe is likely linked to the Texas report, with both states investigating Apple’s 2017 iPhone slowdown practices.
The probe relates to a “performance management system” Apple introduced in its iOS 10.2.1 update that was released in early 2017. The system was designed to eliminate unexpected shutdowns on Apple devices by throttling the performance of iPhones that have chemically aged batteries.
But Apple never disclosed how the power management system worked, and customers were angered that the performance of their devices was being downgraded without their knowledge. There were even claims that Apple was secretly slowing down older iPhones in an effort to persuade customers to upgrade to a newer model.
Soon after the revelation of deteriorating power performance in older iPhone devices, Apple lowered the price for replacement batteries from $79 USD to $29.
Apple agreed earlier this year to pay up to $500 million USD to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit involving battery issues.
