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Apple is under a new investigation following a claim that it is throttling old iPhones. Arizona’s Attorney General Mark Brnovich is leading the investigation, and initial reports indicate that he will soon be joined by Texas AG, to push the lawsuit to court.

The probe was launched in October 2018, a year after Apple had released a new upgrade for its iPhone devices. The update (iOS 10.2.1) released in 2017 was intended to be a performance management system that would provide a solution for inexplicable shut-downs of iPhone devices equipped with older batteries.

Unlawful business practices

According to a report by Reuters, the probe was based on allegations that Apple was engaging in potentially illegal business practices involving the reduction of performance efficiency in older iPhones.

Most iPhone users were quite frustrated because the company did not reveal the side effects of the new upgrade. Some sources say that Apple throttled older iPhone devices’ performance so that their customers would be forced to buy new ones.

In their defense, the trillion-dollar company said they updated the operating system to improve the old devices’ battery life. This was, however, not a good enough excuse for angry customers.

A drop in a bucket, for a trillion-dollar company

Apple was subsequently forced to apologize and launch a battery replacement program, where users had to pay $29 to get a replacement battery.

In March this year, Apple settled to pay $500 million in a class-action lawsuit about throttling iPhones in the US. This new lawsuit is closing in on the company very quickly, and the case to determine whether they are on the wrong or right is pending.

“It is unfortunate when tech companies don’t do the right thing,” said Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller. Can the state AGs win the lawsuit over Apple? Time will tell.

Tip: Review: Apple iPhone SE 2020, the perfect smartphone for employees?