Apple vows protection for consumer rights, choice

Apple Inc said on Friday it will guarantee the right of consumers to information and free choice on its iPhones’ batteries in response to an inquiry of the Shanghai Consumer Council over the slowdown of older version iPhones.

The company said the iOS 10.2.1 and iOS 11.2 upgrades caused the slowdown of the performance of older iPhones, thepaper.cn reported on Friday.

The company also said it will improve its current method of informing consumers, including improving notices before purchases.

The Shanghai council launched an inquiry after it had received a huge amount of complaints and inquiries about the performance of iPhones.

A statement on the council’s website on Wednesday demanded that Apple explain the cause of the poor performance of iPhone batteries and faithfully release information. Apple is required to reply before Friday.

The council said that it will continue to monitor whether Apple’s new software upgrade can really solve consumers’ concerns and guarantee their right to information and free choice, thepaper.cn reported.

The council added that it hopes Apple can continuously improve the quality of its products, especially the quality and durability of its batteries.

On December 28, 2017, Apple apologized for the slowdown of iPhones with older batteries under pressure from threats of lawsuits and growing consumer outrage.

The company said that it will reduce the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 worldwide until December 2018.