Planned obsolescence is, “the policy of making consumer goods which rapidly becomes obsolete and so require replacing” so says the Oxford Dictionary.
Since 2017 Apple has admitted to lowering battery performance to prolong its life; in 2020 the DGCCRF (French Fraud watchdog) fined Apple $21m and in the US it agreed to pay $113m (£90m) to settle an investigation in what became known as Batterygate.
At the moment the current action against Apple’s practices is limited to France and The HOP (Stop Planned Obsolescence) Group whose aims are to “Unify citizens and counter planned obsolescence challenges, Influence decision-makers to improve laws, Encourage manufacturers to create sustainable and repairable products“.
Currently, there are no laws against planned obsolescence in mobile phones or computers in England and despite rumours about new legislation to tackle it nothing has been done so far other than the requirement for the “right to repair “ which means that companies must provide parts for self-repair.
Let us know if you’ve experienced your iPhone having rapid decrease in battery life when newer models are released.
By Oliver
Carre’s Grammar School Newsroom