Soon after Apple began the public rollout of iOS 18 — loaded with the Apple Intelligence stack — there were plenty of negative reports documenting sluggish performance, camera woes, UI status, and more.
Today, Apple has received a stern notice from India’s consumer watchdog over the performance issues encountered by iPhone users after installing the update. It is not quite the same as “Apple deliberately slowing down old iPhones,” because the iOS 18 woes also affect the latest iPhone models. The notice was issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), a regulatory agency that oversees consumer grievances and violations of their rights, while also conducting investigations and issuing orders related to recalls.
After receiving complaints on the National Consumer Helpline regarding performance issues in #iPhones following the iOS 18+ software update, the department, after examining these grievances, has issued a notice to #Apple through the CCPA, seeking a response on the matter.
— Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) January 23, 2025
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Information about the notice was provided by Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, in a post on X. The ministry acted upon complaints received via the National Consumer Helpline and has sought an official response from Apple.
The company has cultivated quite a sordid reputation regarding updates that allegedly slow down devices, especially the big annual software upgrades. There is certainly precedent for that, and Apple has even lost an appeal contesting such allegations in a court of law. In January last year, Apple started paying out to class members following a settlement worth half a billion dollars in a case where the company was found deliberately slowing down iPhones.
The Union Minister didn’t provide any further details regarding the exact slowdown issues faced by iPhone users in India who installed the iOS 18 update. But a quick look at Apple’s own community forum and Reddit shows many complaints about sub-par performance tied to iOS 18. Digital Trends has spotted over a dozen reports on public forums, most of which had iPhone users confirming the performance troubles they ran into after installing the iOS 18 update.
Here are some of the reports that we came across:
A recurring theme across these complaints is random freezing of the UI, the camera app crashing, trouble with lens switching, non-responsive screens, and unexpected shutdowns. Some called the software downright unusable, while others called it the upgrade their worst decision. Apple hasn’t acknowledged these complaints so far, but with an official notice from India’s consumer watchdog, the company may have to respond in the near future. Depending on the outcome, questions may soon be asked by other regions.
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