Apple Inc has admitted that government officials in the US have questioned the company about a software update that throttled older iPhone models. A new issue has put the technology giant in a tight spot, being questioned over security concerns.
"We have received questions from some government agencies and we are responding to them," says Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller in a statement.
Also read: WhatsApp now supports Apple's CarPlay
The Silicon Valley giant did not specify which agency approached them. Before Apple released the statement, there had already been reports that the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have talked to company officials for more information about the software update rolled out in January.
The government agencies reportedly looked into violations of securities laws. The SEC's involvement suggests that the government is investigating t how Apple's actions impacted investors. Still, Apple is firm that it did not intentionally slow down older iPhone models so consumers are forced to buy new ones.
"As we told our customers in December, 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," states Apple.
Both SEC and DoJ refused to comment on the said investigation.
In the meantime, the latest iOS 11 beta update has been rolled out bringing an option to disable the throttling of device performance.
