Prosecutors are reinvestigating allegations that Apple intentionally degraded the battery performance of its older iPhone 6 to induce the purchase of new handsets.
The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office said on July 19 that it has ordered a reinvestigation into a case in which a civic group filed a complaint against Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple Korea CEO Daniel Disco on charges of property damage and obstruction of business.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which investigated the case, dismissed the case two years after the charges. In response, the civic group called for a reinvestigation into the case in January, saying that the non-indictment was the result of a poor investigation that rejected all objective evidence.
It has also argued that the prosecution did not make efforts to secure versions of the iPhone 6 to 7 series iOS 10.2.1 to 11.2, and did not even conduct a thorough examination of the iPhone submitted with the cooperation of the victims.
Apple is suspected of deliberately causing battery performance of older models such as the iPhone 6 to deteriorate during the update of the iPhone operating system (iOS).
The allegations have turned into a "battery gate" since they were raised in the U.S. in 2017, leading to massive class action suits by iPhone users around the world.
As the controversy grew, Apple apologized in December 2017 by explaining that it was a measure to prevent the power from suddenly turning off due to aging batteries.
A total of 63,767 Korean iPhone users also filed a lawsuit for damages in March 2018, and the first trial is underway.
Apple, meanwhile, has agreed to pay up to $500 million in compensation after being sued by consumers in the U.S. over alleged performance degradation.
