SAN FRANCISCO: Apple apologised for secretly slowing down older iPhones, a move it said was necessary to avoid unexpected shutdowns related to battery fatigue.

Many customers had interpreted the move as a way to for Apple to juice demand for newer iPhone models, their suspicions fueled by the fact that the company didn’t initially disclose the slowdowns or its reasons for them.

Apple also said it will cut the price of a battery replacement by $50 to $29 through next year. New batteries had previously cost $79 for those who didn’t purchase the Apple Care maintenance plan.

“We apologise,” the company said on its website. “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.”

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2017