Apple was fined €25 million by the French government for slowing down older iPhone models without notifying users

The French watchdog for competition and fraud (DGCCRF), affiliated with the French Ministry of Economic Affairs, began investigating the Apple case filed by the National Consumers Association on January 5, 2018.

The association claims that the iOS operating system (10.2.1 and 11.2) introduced by Apple in 2017 may slow down the operation of older models (iPhone 6, iPhone SE, and iPhone 7.) At the same time, the association emphasizes that once the consumer upgrades the operating system, it is impossible to manually downgrade, and Apple did not inform the consumer in advance. These two operating system versions will slow down their phones, so the vast majority of consumers can only choose to buy a new phone or replace the battery.

In the end, the French watchdog for competition and fraud (DGCCRF) handed over the investigation results and conclusions to the Paris-based prosecutor in 2019, and the prosecutor finally ruled that Apple needed to pay a fee of 25 million euros and posted the official website. Details of the fine were reported, and Apple agreed.

Via: ZDNet