Apple’s betrayal

My mobile phone often lost signals during phone calls when I was a Washington, D.C. correspondent. At the National Press Club office near the White House, I could not even get any signals. When I made an inquiry about this at a cellphone store, they said they did not know the reason and the repair would take 15 days as they have to send my mobile to the headquarters. I finally got it fixed when I bought a new mobile phone and switched the mobile carrier to Verizon from AT&T. Later, I figured out the problem was my two-year-old mobile phone, not the mobile carrier.

An online post of an iPhone 6S user on Reddit is enraging iPhone users. This person says that his iPhone became faster again when he replaced the battery in the post titled, “iPhone slow? Try replacing your battery!” John Paul, CEO at Geekbench, a website that measures power of IT devices, demonstrated with data that the performance of iPhone 6 and iPhone7 was deteriorating. American press reported this as “iPhone Battery Scandal.”

“Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components,” Apple stated on Wednesday to calm the controversy. “Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent [this]. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.” This means Apple deliberately lowered the power of old models. Apple’s statement fanned the controversy even more. Customers would not have bought a new iPhone for more than 1,000 dollars (around 1.08 million won) if they had known this.

Apple’s statement that says their “goal is to deliver the best experience for customers” seems more like a pitiful excuse. Apple is facing class-action lawsuits filed by furious customers who feel betrayed. Apple that lures customers with their motto — simplicity, beauty and innovation — might have to pay the price of betraying the trust. I wonder if this would have happened if Steve Jobs had been alive.