France’s consumer protection agency fined the company for not informing customers about the effect of software updates on their devices.
Background: During 2017, Apple came under fire as some users noticed that new versions of the iOS system were throttling the performance of older iPhones. After the discovery, the company admitted that the feature was first introduced with iOS 10.2.1, and was designed to prevent unexpected shutdowns as batteries degrade over time. However, the company never communicated this to its customers, who did not know they could reverse the throttling by replacing the battery, and provided no option to disable the feature or to roll back to previous versions of iOS. As a result, the company faced lawsuits and investigations in the US (from the Department of Justice) and elsewhere. The Italian competition authority fined the company €5m in 2019; in France, the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) started an investigation in 2018.
A €25m fine: On 7 February 2020, the DGCCRF announced the conclusion of the investigation, which found that iPhone users had not been informed that the updates of the iOS operating system (10.2.1 and 11.2) they installed were likely to slow down the operation of their device. As they were unable to revert to a previous version of the operating system, many consumers would have been forced to change their batteries or even buy a new phone. The DGCCRF then transmitted the conclusions of its investigations to the Paris Prosecutor's Office in 2019, on grounds that this lack of consumer information constituted a misleading commercial practice by omission.
Apple accepts the penalty: With the agreement of the public prosecutor, Apple was offered a transaction to pay €25m as a penalty for its conduct. The company accepted it and agreed to the publication of a press release on its website for one month.
