Apple is “Sabotaging” iDevices with Updates that Slow Your Devices

I’ve always known that PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE was a sneaky marketing strategy where a company releases incrementally updated products that outshadow their existing products to get consumers to buy more products.  That’s capitalism.  I didn’t like it but I thought it was fair because had a choice: Stick with what I’ve got, or pay up for the newer model with cool bells and whistles.  Right?  Actually, NO. 

Apple (and other gadget companies) has been SABOTAGING THEIR DEVICES for years with software “UPDATES” that deliberately slow every iPhone and iPad except the very latest model.  So every time you get those prompts telling you to “Install Now” with promises that you’ll get beneficial upgrades to your old devices, Apple is in many cases intentionally installing updates that THEY KNOW will run slower than the version they’re replacing, so that in your frustration, you’ll purchase their new products rather than deal with an increasingly slow device. 

Come to think of it, I remember being so excited every time I got a new MacBook Pro or iPhone because it was lightning fast.  Then, a year later, it just seemed to be so sluggish and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them.  That’s when my IT guru Patrick warned me to NEVER UPGRADE ANY OF MY APPLE DEVICES unless I got a message stating that the app or the device would not work without the upgrade. Wow.  [IT NOTE: SECURITY UPDATES EXCLUDED]

Then my husband Rob told me that Apple designs its iPhones so that you cannot remove the battery to build in obsolescence.  He spent years working directly with the Battery Council and Apple to get them to change this ridiculous practice to stop environmental waste and unfair consumer relations, but Apple would not budge.  They are all about marketing and profits — PERIOD.  That’s when I ordered 4 new Samsung Android cellphones for my family.  The batteries can be removed and replaced easily so we don’t have to throw out our phones when the batteries wear out, and the camera and other features are so much better. 

But if you still have an iPhone and you notice that it is running unusually slower than it used to, you might be able to “downgrade” your devices so they work as well as they did when you first got them.  I don’t have an iPhone anymore so I haven’t tried this but SumOfUs has laid out easy steps to downgrade your iPhones (see the link below).   And, while you’re at it, sign SumOfUs’ petition to get Apple to stop sabotaging older iPhones and iPads here: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/planned-obsolescence-is-why-apple-isn-t-a-green-company