Apple 🍎 Scandal

The biggest scandal to hit Apple in recent years is undoubtedly the ‘batterygate’ of December 2017.

This started when a Reddit user reported that a software update had reduced the performance of their iPhone but that this had corrected itself when they replaced the battery. This post led to a lot of press coverage, with some commentators suggesting that Apple was trying to force users to upgrade by deliberately slowing devices as they aged. Tim Cook issued a statement on the matter a week after the news broke, confirming that the software was designed to throttle performance but claiming that the intent was only to prevent unexpected shutdowns, which could affect devices with older batteries. The company offered a discount on battery replacements as a gesture of goodwill for those affected.

Batterygate is a term used to describe the implementation of performance controls on older models of Apple's iPhone line in order to preserve system stability on degraded batteries. The controversy first emerged in late-2016, when it was reported that since a recent iOS update, some iPhone models had begun to experience unexpected shutdowns when their battery capacity reached 30%.

Time and again we see Apple being placed in such controversies where it  is blamed by its users for overpricing its products and services, and manipulating its customers to buy a new phone.

There was a time when it was on its prime and unrivaled in the market but now it has tough competition by Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, Google Nexus, etc. and they still trying to persuade customers who don't need a new phone to buy a new model which looks and feels exactly like the last model.

They produce less black models so they can sell it for higher prices and keep the customers on a waiting list for new stock and make them rush to get them as soon as they are in stock. Such marketing practices are unethical and their impacts on the customer's mindset highly underrated.

Surely enough Apple is not the only company to practice this strategy to earn more profits.