Apple fails appeal of 10M euro iPhone battery slowdown fine in Italy

Apple has failed to overturn a 10 million euro ($11.1M) fine levied against it in 2018 by Italy, after a court rejected an appeal against the findings of an investigation over iPhone slowdowns caused by software updates.

In October 2018, Italy's antitrust regulator the Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) issued Apple a fine, following a probe into complaints about device slowdowns. The allegations, which were also made against Samsung at the time and involved a reduction in performance instigated by software updates, to improve overall device stability.

Apple's 10 million euro fine was formed by two components. The first 5 million euros was the same as levied against Samsung, but Apple had a second 5 million euro fine for failing to advise to customers how to properly maintain or replace their iPhone batteries.

In filings discovered by setteBIT on Twitter and first reported by iMore, Apple's attempt to appeal the judgment was rejected by the Regional Administrative Court for Lazio. Apple offered in its complaint a number of areas it objected to, including claims there were not enough technical tests of alleged damage, a lack of proof, misrepresentation of facts, and a serious error in logic by the investigators, among other issues.

Despite Apple's protestations, the court believed the regulator was right in its consideration that information relating to battery usage and wear should have been made available to consumers. The court also rejected complaints about the regulator's practice in the investigation and prosecution, and ultimately denied Apple the overall appeal.

As part of the ruling, Apple is also due to pay the costs of the appeal's judgment, amounting to 7 thousand euro ($7,773).

Following the discovery of the iOS update throttling, Apple apologized for the decision to implement such a measure, instigated a program that temporarily reduced the cost of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29, then added Battery Health options as part of a later update.

14 Comments

davebarnes 373 comments · 19 Years

About 4 years ago

OMG!
Apple is dead!
How will they ever pay a €10M fine?

avon b7 8007 comments · 20 Years

davebarnes said:

OMG!
Apple is dead!
How will they ever pay a €10M fine?

More than the amount, it is the symbolic angle that is important here.

Apple goofed with its communication (as it often does) and if there is a complaint placed against some Apple (or any other vendor) where lack of communication (or clear communication) is deemed to be in play, it runs far higher risks.

Case in point, the truly wireless earbuds industry could be in for a whack if someone were to complain that they were never fully and clearly informed of the 'disposable' nature of the devices.

An asterisk pointing to some greyed out text at the foot of the product page would probably not satisfy any consumer organisations.

wonkothesane 1737 comments · 12 Years

Maybe this would have been a non issue if Apple simply would allow a downgrade to a previous iOS version. Tru the update and if you don’t like then simply go back. Which is, of course, possible today, but seems to hard to do for the everyday user. Plus, be might enter the discussion, to what extent security update need to be issued and how long for free.

On a side note: this has the taste of many “regulatory” decisions to foster “user friendliness” etc. that create a sense of something along the lines of “if you don’t like our shit, just go elsewhere. But don’t tell me how to design my device, what features it has to have, Who can repair what, how the charger has to look like and so on. What is this, frickin communism?” in other words: I get the impression that more and more people who should stay out of “my business” think they need to meddle with it.

wonkothesane said:

Maybe this would have been a non issue if Apple simply would allow a downgrade to a previous iOS version. Tru the update and if you don’t like then simply go back. Which is, of course, possible today, but seems to hard to do for the everyday user. Plus, be might enter the discussion, to what extent security update need to be issued and how long for free.
On a side note: this has the taste of many “regulatory” decisions to foster “user friendliness” etc. that create a sense of something along the lines of “if you don’t like our shit, just go elsewhere. But don’t tell me how to design my device, what features it has to have, Who can repair what, how the charger has to look like and so on. What is this, frickin communism?” in other words: I get the impression that more and more people who should stay out of “my business” think they need to meddle with it.

You raise a valid point. The ability to effortlessly roll back an update would be a godsend for many who get bitten by changes that impact their work flows.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

wonkothesane said:

Maybe this would have been a non issue if Apple simply would allow a downgrade to a previous iOS version. Tru the update and if you don’t like then simply go back. Which is, of course, possible today, but seems to hard to do for the everyday user. Plus, be might enter the discussion, to what extent security update need to be issued and how long for free.
On a side note: this has the taste of many “regulatory” decisions to foster “user friendliness” etc. that create a sense of something along the lines of “if you don’t like our shit, just go elsewhere. But don’t tell me how to design my device, what features it has to have, Who can repair what, how the charger has to look like and so on. What is this, frickin communism?” in other words: I get the impression that more and more people who should stay out of “my business” think they need to meddle with it.

I would strongly disagree. Then we would have a myriad of iOS versions for developers to contend with, the same fragmentation the other platform experiences. Apps designed to run on current iOS versions might simply not work on older versions or that the developers would have to spend precious time and money keeping thier apps compatible with every damn point release of iOS ad infinitum. We already have ranting and raving about things working or not working on which or what version of whatever. I fully support Apple's motives to push users on the latest versions and I truly believe this is an issue only for the fake techies rag on.