France probes Apple over restricting smartphone repair / Photo: JOHN MOORE - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
-
Stokes straight back into the action as New Zealand bat in 3rd Test
-
Baking heatwave gives Europe no respite
-
Amazon pledges additional $13 bn in India AI investment
-
Trump climate pushback spurs courtroom battles, report says
-
Struggling VW to sell majority stake in marine engine unit
-
Kenya police in massive show of force on protest anniversary
-
Seoul stocks soar in Asia tech rally after Micron's blowout forecast
-
USA, Germany in control as Dutch eye World Cup knockouts
-
Trump-linked resort shines light on Albania's 'stolen' land
-
Violence feared as Kenya marks protest anniversary
-
French aversion to air conditioning melts as homes sizzle
-
Ukraine recovery summit opens, overshadowed by Kyiv-Warsaw row
-
Municipal misery weighs on looming S.African elections
-
Chad sees influx of drone victims from Sudan
-
Hong takes blame as South Korea's World Cup hopes fade
-
'We shut up big mouths,' says South Africa's World Cup coach Broos
-
Brazil advance at World Cup, history for South Africa, Canada, Bosnia
-
Mothers search, men weep amid debris of Venezuela quakes
-
Confirmation still a rite of passage in Denmark but less Christian
-
South Africa stun South Korea to make World Cup history
-
Seoul stocks soar in Asia tech rally after Micron blowout forecast
-
Clarke fears Scotland 'probably going home' after Brazil World Cup loss
-
Moriyasu vows Japan will play to win and top group against Sweden
-
Secret cameras, mics and AI reveal rare Cambodia wildlife
-
Beloved spiritual utopia under threat in Modi's India
-
Bulgaria's milk farmers falter in former yogurt empire
-
Ancelotti hails Vinicius as Brazil march on at World Cup
-
Trump opens US 250th birthday party with rally-style speech
-
Morocco have 'ingredients' of World Cup winners, says coach Ouahbi
-
TotalEnergies awaits ruling in high-stakes climate trial
-
'Master key' vaccine technique may 'prevent next pandemic': researchers
-
Spice Girls' debut 'Wannabe' turns 30, amid reunion talk
-
Curacao belong on World Cup stage, says Advocaat
-
Nagelsmann feels Germany 'punished' for topping World Cup group
-
Morocco overcome historic Haiti goals to roll into World Cup last 32
-
Bosnia beat Qatar to reach World Cup knockout stages for first time
-
Twin earthquakes in Venezuela destroy buildings, sow panic
-
Brazil advance at World Cup as Swiss, Canada reach last 32
-
Vinicius Junior sparkles as Brazil beat Scots to reach World Cup last 32
-
Morocco overcome historic Haiti goals to maintain World Cup momentum
-
Two powerful earthquakes strike Venezuela, destroying buildings
-
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - June 25
-
CRI Names Dee Burger Chief Executive Officer
-
Nano One and Worley Chemetics Complete One-Pot(TM) LFP Cathode Package and Advance to Market
-
Grande Portage Announces Binding Commercial Offtake Agreement with C$6 Million Equity Financing and US$25 Million Construction Loan, Welcomes Ocean Partners as New Strategic Catalyst for the New Amalga Gold Project
-
Eagle Plains and Xcite Define Prospective Geophysical Trends at Don Lake and Smitty Uranium Projects, SK
-
Zomedica's Assisi Loop(R) Products Designated "Fear Free(R)" as Alliance to Advance Low Stress Care and Pet Wellbeing Continues with Fear Free, LLC
-
FireFox Gold Closes Second and Final Tranche of Non-Brokered Private Placement
-
BlackBerry Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Results
-
Hyundai Motor America Partners with Spiffy and MSX to Accelerate Mobile Service Across Dealer Network
France probes Apple over restricting smartphone repair
France is investigating US tech giant Apple over it allegedly planning for smartphones to become out of date through restricting their repair, prosecutors and an association said on Monday.
The probe into purported misleading commercial practices and planned obsolescence has been under way since December, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
It follows a complaint filed by the Halt Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association.
HOP said it hoped the investigation would demonstrate the iPhone maker was "associating the serial numbers of spare parts to those of a smartphone, including via microchips, giving the manufacturer the possibility of restricting repairs by non-approved repairers or to remotely degrade a smartphone repaired with generic parts".
The association called on Apple "to guarantee the right to repair devices under the logic of real circular economy".
Apple France was not immediately available for comment.
Apple in 2020 agreed to pay 25 million euros (then $27.4 million) for failing to tell iPhone users that software updates could slow down older devices.
The scandal erupted in December 2017, when the US tech giant admitted that its most recent iOS software was slowing the performance of older telephones whose battery life was deteriorating.
A.O.Scott--AT