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Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company whose headquarters is in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.
It was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976. It was incorporated as Apple Computer Inc., in January 1977. There are various hardware and software products offered namely:-
1) Hardware products
- iPhone smartphone,
- iPad tablet computer,
- Mac personal computer,
- iPod portable media player,
- Apple Watch smartwatch
- Apple TVdigital media player
- AirPods wireless earbuds
- HomePod smart speaker.
2) Software products
- macOS
- iOS
- iPadOS
- WatchOS
- Two operating systems
- iTunes media player
- Safari web browser
- Shazam Acoustic fingerprint utility
- Life and iWork creativity and productivity suites
Also includes professional applications like
- Final Cut Pro
- Logic Pro
- Xcode
3) Online services include
- iTunes Store
- iOS App Store
- Mac App Store
- Apple Music
- Apple TV+
- iMessage
- iCloud Apple Store
- Genius Bar
- AppleCare
- Apple Pay
- Apple Pay Cash
- Apple Card
Recently a headline popped up which gained worldwide attention and that was Apple fined 25 million euros for slowing down old iPhone models'
The fine was imposed by France's competition and fraud watchdog DGCCRF, which said consumers were not warned. Apple confirmed that it did slow down some iPhones, but said it only did so to "prolong the life" of the devices.
The truth is, this slow-down happened. Take out any customer service survey or any other proof such as a feedback recording or go out and do a random check by asking anybody about this and you will get to know that after the launch of a new model, the Apple Inc. slows down the sales as well as the speed and quality of software in the existing models to encourage buyers to spend money on the newly launched ones.
Here’s what apple replied on this argument:-
The company confirmed it did slow down some models as they age, but not to encourage people to upgrade. The lithium-ion batteries in the devices became less capable of supplying peak current demands, as they aged over time. That could result in an iPhone unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.
So is it like apple iPhones are getting old and just like humans are losing the ability to work? As per the above reasoning, this is all we can make up.
So do you think Apple Inc. is still doing this to their phones? Well, the answer is yes.
Since Apple confirmed the practice in 2017, it has imposed on several phones including:
- iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
- iPhone 8 and 8 Plus running iOS 12.1 or higher
- iPhone X running iOS 12.1 or higher
- iPhone XS, XS Max and XR running iOS 13.1 or higher
The setting is only enabled when the battery begins to degrade, and iOS now offers clearer information to consumers about when performance management has been switched on.
"The effects of performance management on these newer models may be less noticeable due to their more advanced hardware and software design," Apple said.
The Directorate-General for Competition, Consumption, and Repression of Frauds was not at all satisfied with the statements and arguments are given by Apple Inc. and hence gave them a sentence to pay the fine.
Therefore the headline we heard was all true and this time, a company paid a fine of such a huge amount to clear the matter out and sort the controversy.
