If you've ever wondered whether your old smartphone is performing unusually slow, you're not alone.
As your device fills up with files, photos, and videos, it can lose some of the speed and performance that made it feel so shiny out of the box.
But at one point, some iPhone users felt their devices were moving a little too slowly. In the mid-2010s, rumours began to circulate that Apple was deliberately slowing down older iPhones after the release of the iPhone 6.
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It turns out that, in fact, Apple were slowing down older models using a feature it claimed would prevent performance issues on older batteries which would otherwise shut the devices down.
After admitting it was 'throttling' older devices and confirming the rumours, Apple faced a series of expensive legal cases. In Italy, the company was slapped with an £8.4 million (€10m) fine. Meanwhile, in the US, Apple agreed to pay out £263 million ($310m) to iPhone users over the issue.
The tech giant now faces a similar court case in the UK, where consumer rights activist Justin Gutmann has taken Apple to the Competition Appeals Tribunal. If Apple loses, it might have to pay out £750m to the 25 million customers who bought an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8 Plus, and iPhone X.
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Gutmann claimed that Apple didn't tell users about the update at the time and instead forced the update onto their devices.
He said: "Instead of doing the honourable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58%.
"I'm launching this case so that millions of iPhone users across the UK will receive redress for the harm suffered by Apple's actions."
In a statement earlier this year, Apple said: "We have never – and would never – do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.
"Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that."
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