Apple faces lawsuit over how iOS 9 negatively impacts iPhone 4s performance

It's time to put away that mince pie and those bottles of mulled wine as we wait for 2016 to greet us all, but not everyone will be welcoming the new year with a working iPhone. That's according to a new complaint over how iOS 9 is reported to significantly impact the performance of the iPhone 4s. Unfortunately for those affected, they're unable to downgrade from iOS 9 due to Apple security.

More than 100 iPhone 4s owners have asserted that the update has led to a negative experience on their smartphone to the point where it's simply unusable for daily use. Delayed launch times for apps, slower response on the touchscreen, as well as sluggish performance overall plague said owners. Then you have the reported freezing and crashes. Not fun times for anyone.

It's claimed that Apple knows all too well about iOS 9 and how the update makes the iPhone 4s simply not fit for use by owners and forcing them to either endure aforementioned issues or fork out on an upgrade. Plaintiffs are now seeking more than $5 million in damages, with an option to treble. This isn't the first time Apple has been in trouble for planned obsolescence, with complaints in 2011 over poor performance, as well as 2013 for lack of storage after updating.

It should be noted that while Apple has been accused of intentionally slowing down older hardware with new updates, the company does insist that engineers on the performance team use old phones as their daily drivers. It has also been reported that the exact opposite is the case in some tests, where newer updates applied to older hardware actually improves performance.

Source: Apple Insider