In October 2018, in an unprecedented ruling on planned obsolescence, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) fined tech giant Apple Inc. (Apple) €5 million (US$5.7 million), stating the company had engaged in dishonest practices by failing to provide its customers with an effective way to recover the full functionality of their devices. It stated that Apple had deliberately limited the useful life of its products by prompting users to install software updates that significantly reduced the performance of their phones. As a result many consumers had had to upgrade their handsets. Apple was fined an additional €5 million for allegedly failing to provide adequate information on how to maintain and replace batteries in the company’s flagship device, the iPhone.

In December 2017, Apple acknowledged that its iOS software slowed down the performance of older iPhones with aging lithium-ion batteries but this was to prevent these phones from shutting down unexpectedly. The company denied that it had ever done anything to intentionally shorten the life of a product. After facing criticism over its battery policies, Apple apologized formally and cut the price of out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements from US$79 to US$29, an offer that ended on December 31, 2018...

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