Apple has confirmed that iPhone owners affected by an enforced, hidden battery-saver mode that reduces device performance will be able to switch the controversial feature off after the next iOS firmware update.
The option will be available to owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, SE, 6S, 6S Plus, 7 and 7 Plus. Several legal claims have been made against Apple since the feature was uncovered, including a criminal complaint lodged against Apple CEO, Tim Cook. Apple CEO Receives Criminal Complaint from Consumer Group
The effects of the feature can also be reversed by replacing the device’s battery. In response to the recent backlash, Apple discounted out-of-warranty battery replacements for affected customers to $29.
A release date for iOS 11.3 hasn’t been announced, but is believed to be due in March 2018.
Analyst Comment
I have quite a lot of sympathy with Apple on this topic (not a position I often find myself in!). Apple’s success has partly been successful because it has hidden things from its users to keep life simple for them. In this case, the decision was to avoid peak demand causing resets, when the battery gets too low. That seems a reasonable decision, to me and I am having trouble understanding the huffing and puffing around this. I suspect its more the kind of outrage that seems to impact brands that develop an especially emotional relationship with their customers. If this happens, then it could explain why Sony has so much trouble if it makes wrong decisions, while Samsung seems, so far, to be able to avoid the worst outrage. (BR)
