Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has apologized after the company was criticized for slowing down processors in older phones as a way to protect aging batteries.
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Cook said the slow down was for “user experience” and the code was released to prevent the probability of an unexpected restart when using the phone.
He said Apple will soon release a software update to allow users to disable the throttling feature. The iOS update is expected to arrive in February.
Although Cook apologized, he also said the company informed customers about the slow down feature.
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“We did say what it was, but I don’t think a lot of people were paying attention and maybe we should have been clearer as well,” Cook said. “So we deeply apologize for anyone who thinks we had some other kind of motivation.”
In December, Apple admitted the throttling feature was implemented on the iPhone 6, 6S and SE last year during a software update. It’s also on the iPhone 7 as of December with the release of i0S 11.2.
Numerous class-action lawsuits were then filed against Apple, with users saying they never consented to allow the company to slow down the phones.