appmarsh

Friday, 7 February 2020

Apple Fined 25 Million Euros in France for Slowing Down Older iPhones With iOS Update

Apple has been fined 25 million euros by a French consumer fraud group for intentionally slowing down some iPhone models with a software update.

The Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF), which is part of the country's economy ministry, concluded that Apple had failed to inform users that iOS updates to older iPhones could slow down their devices.

The DGCCRF revealed its findings in a Friday press release:

"Following an investigation by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF) and after the agreement of the Public Prosecutor of Paris, the Apple group agreed to pay a fine of 25 M € in the context of a criminal transaction.

"Seized on January 5, 2018 by the Paris Prosecutor's Office to investigate the complaint of an association against Apple, the DGCCRF has shown that ‌iPhone‌ owners were not 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.

"These updates, released during 2017, included a dynamic power management device which, under certain conditions and especially when the batteries were old, could slow down the functioning of the ‌iPhone‌ 6, SE models. and 7."

The investigation followed Apple's admission in 2017 that it slows down some older iPhones with degraded batteries during times of peak power usage in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns.

When the ‌iPhone‌ slowdown controversy was at its height, Apple apologized for its lack of communication and offered affected customers cut-price iPhone battery replacements. The company has always maintained that the features are designed to preserve the life of the ‌iPhone‌ for as long as possible, and were not implemented to force upgrades.

That being said, Apple has accepted an agreement with France's public prosecutor to pay the fine of 25 million euros and to publish a press release on its website for one month.

Tags: France, iPhone Slowdown

This article, "Apple Fined 25 Million Euros in France for Slowing Down Older iPhones With iOS Update" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2SuNmdy

Foxconn Warns Staff to Keep Away From Shenzhen iPhone Plant as Virus Prevention Efforts Continue

Apple's main iPhone assembler Foxconn has told employees not to return to work at its Shenzhen facility in China when the extended Lunar New Year break ends on February 10, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.

"To safeguard everyone's health and safety and comply with government virus prevention measures, we urge you not to return to Shenzhen," Foxconn wrote in a text message sent to employees. "We'll update you on the situation in the city. The company will protect everyone's work-related rights and interests in the duration. As for the happy reunion date in Shenzhen, please wait for further notice."

Foxconn has reportedly halted almost all of its production in China as the government and businesses attempt to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country, where more than 31,000 cases have been reported so far.

It's unclear whether the Shenzhen policy extends to all employees or to Foxconn's other facilities. Earlier this week, the ‌iPhone‌ manufacturer said it planned to resume full-scale production by February 10. Other Apple suppliers such as Quanta Computer, Inventec and LG Display also said they would go back to work next week in China, but sticking to that plan seems less certain by the day.

"As a matter of policy and for reasons of commercial sensitivity, we do not comment on our specific production facilities," Foxconn told Bloomberg. "We have been closely monitoring the current public health challenge linked to the coronavirus and we are applying all recommended health and hygiene practices to all aspects of our operations in the affected markets."

Foxconn has slashed its 2020 revenue outlook after strict quarantines at its main base in China to guard against the coronavirus outbreak. The company has adopted a quarantine policy so that workers returning from outside Henan province will be sequestered for 14 days, while staff who reside within the province will be isolated for one week.

The timing of the coronavirus outbreak could impact supply of the new lower-cost iPhone that Apple is expected to announce in March. Bloomberg recently reported that production of the device was slated to begin in February, but the coronavirus outbreak could delay that timeframe.

Apple typically sources components from multiple suppliers, and Foxconn has factories outside of China, so it's likely that Apple will still release the lower-cost ‌iPhone‌ in March, even if supply is limited at launch.

Tags: China, Foxconn, bloomberg.com

This article, "Foxconn Warns Staff to Keep Away From Shenzhen iPhone Plant as Virus Prevention Efforts Continue" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2S7xyP9

Dark Mode Appears in Latest WhatsApp Beta for iPhone

Dark Mode is coming to WhatsApp for iOS soon. Users participating in the app's TestFlight beta program have spotted the setting in the latest testing notes, confirming that the dark theme setting is finally coming to iPhone.

The setting first appeared in a recent WhatsApp for Android beta build, which is a good indication of what users on iOS can expect down the pipe. The latest Android beta also includes new solid dark wallpapers for users to tailor their ‌Dark Mode‌ experience, suggesting these will also come to the ‌iPhone‌ app.

We're still not sure when the stable builds of WhatsApp will get ‌Dark Mode‌, but it surely can't take any longer than Google's protracted rollout of its Gmail dark theme, which still hasn't appeared for some users.

(Thanks, Aaron!)

Tag: WhatsApp

This article, "Dark Mode Appears in Latest WhatsApp Beta for iPhone" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/378kVHC

Instagram's Made it Easier To Ditch Those Accounts You Don't Know Why You Follow

Cleaning up your feed just became a little less daunting thanks to a new Instagram update that singles out accounts you forgot you ever followed in the first place.

Thursday, 6 February 2020

Trump's Blasting Through a National Monument to Have His Border Wall

As part of the Trump administration’s latest siege on national monuments, government contractors have started blowing up a mountain on protected lands in Arizona as construction continues on a hallmark of Trump’s presidency: the infamous border wall.