Apple forced to pay £85 million after admitting they slowed down old iPhones

They've already agreed to pay back $500 million - £378 million - with regards to the same case

Tech giants Apple have been ordered to pay £85 million after admitting to slowing down old iPhones. This new fine was announced on Wednesday morning in Arizona, the culmination of a lawsuit brought by more than 30 US states. A class action lawsuit brought forward in California had already led to Apple being fined $500 million (£378 million) with regards to the alleged slowing down of iPhones. It is alleged that old phones were slowed down to try and extend battery life. Apple agreed to the hefty fine after accepting a 2017 software update slowed the performance of older iPhone models. However, Apple defended such a move, claiming that slowing down the phones actually helped to prevent them from shutting down completely. They say the latter would have occurred if the iPhones hadn't slowed down, due to the batteries deteriorating. [caption id="attachment_256594" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Apple have already been ordered to pay $500 million by a court in California. (Photo: iStock)[/caption] Those who brought the lawsuit to the courts disagreed, claiming that Apple deliberately slowed down iPhones to encourage upgrades and the sale of newer models. Apple eventually accepted the settlement and agreed to replace old batteries at a heavily-discounted price. They also apologised for slowing down old iPhones. The settlement may sound enormous, but it's worth bearing in mind that Apple boasts an annual revenue of $275 billion - or £208 billion pounds. This isn't the first time the company has been brought to task over alleged iPhone slowing. In February of this year, a French court fined the tech giant $27 million - £20.5 million. Apple were hit with the fine in relation to "deceptive commercial practices by omission". The French court also stated that the company should have informed iPhone users that their models were being slowed down through a new software update.