Apple has responded to news that it is being probed by the U.S. government for purposely slowing down older iPhones.
Apple confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation is underway, but it is in its early stages. “We have received questions from some government agencies, and we are responding to them,” an Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg, stressing "we never—and would never—do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."
The tech giant also shared the following statement with Mashable:
"About a year ago, we delivered a software update that improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns on certain iPhones with older batteries. We know that iPhones have become an important part of the daily lives of our customers and our intention was to improve the customer experience."
Last month, Apple admitted to slowing down older iPhones. The reasoning behind the delay was to use software updates that prevented the batteries from shutting down unexpectedly. They issued an apology along with a $50 discount on replacement batteries for the iPhone 6 and older models.
"First and foremost, we have never—and would never—do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades," the statement read. "Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.”
