The US state of Arizona is investigating Apple to determine if slowing down older iPhones is a violation of competition laws. This was announced on Thursday, July 30, by Reuters, citing documents from this case.
The article notes that this is an investigation that has been ongoing since October 2018 and several more states are involved in this proceeding.
In particular, a journalist source familiar with the details of the case said that most of the US states, representing both Democratic and Republican attorneys general, are joining together to investigate.
As part of this investigation, Apple was asked for information about the disconnection of outdated devices and a decrease in their performance, Gazeta.ru writes.
The first accusations against Apple appeared back in 2017. At that point, the company admitted that it was slowing down older models because the installed lithium-ion batteries lose power over time.
This sparked a wave of criticism from users, who suggested that Apple was slowing down older phones in order to force them to buy newer models.
In early March 2020, Apple agreed to pay between $ 310 million and $ 500 million to settle lawsuits over charges of deliberately slowing down older iPhones.