The issue really is less “evil” than that. They keep adding features running in the background which add to the load on a CPU. Combine that with some of those new features running better with newer versions of microcode and it quickly makes it appear as though they are intentionally slowing it down, while in reality they are just adding more shit to the system to run on top of your day to day workload.

Early iPhones were known to randomly shut off after years of use at like 30%, which is NOT unusual or specific to iPhones, and was a consequence of old batteries not being able to meet the power demands of the phone any longer due to natural degradation.

Apple pushed an iOS update to mitigate these shutdowns by temporarily slowing the phone as needed and match the energy capabilities of the battery, to avoid these random shutdowns (and data loss, as random shutdowns can corrupt data and cause you to lose important files).

Where they messed up was in the messaging. They assumed most users wouldn’t notice/care, and just added a little bullet point in the release notes for that particular version. Welp, people noticed, articles were written and shared on social media, and yeah they had to pay a settlement about it.

They messed up in the communication, but the public messed up big time by overreacting, assuming Apple was just slowing your phone to make you buy a new one when instead, they were trying to make it so your phone would last longer.

It’s a good study on pr and mass hysteria.