Prosecutors Launch Reinvestigation into Apple 'iPhone Performance Throttling Allegations'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The prosecution has launched a reinvestigation into allegations that Apple deliberately slowed down the performance of older iPhones through an operating system (OS) update.

On the 15th, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office ordered a reinvestigation due to insufficient investigation in the case where the civic group Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Association filed a complaint against Apple executives.

Users of older models such as the iPhone 6 raised suspicions that "the operating system was changed to slow down the iPhone's speed when the battery level drops," claiming that various functions of the phone stopped working after the 2017 update.

The Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Association accused Apple of deliberately lowering device performance through iPhone OS updates to sell more new phones, filing charges of fraud and obstruction of business against Apple CEO Tim Cook and others in January 2018. Previously, the Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which conducted the investigation, decided last year not to prosecute them, judging there was insufficient evidence to recognize the charges.

Regarding the "performance degradation allegations," Apple faced a class-action lawsuit from consumers in the United States and agreed to pay up to $500 million, approximately 600 billion KRW. In South Korea as well, about 63,000 consumers filed a damages claim lawsuit worth approximately 12.7 billion KRW against Apple headquarters and Apple Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.