When the question comes up, Apple regularly denies that it’s deliberately making, or sabotaging, older gear to become obsolete; there is no nasty planned obsolescence plot that will force you to buy a new model before its time. But it’s not that Apple hasn’t done things to foster that impression. It almost always seems as […]

Consider the crazy situation. Apple screwed up, by failing to flesh out release notes to reveal a key fact about a fix for iPhone sudden shutdowns. The solution was to regulate, or slow down performance of the affected devices if they had deteriorating batteries. It wasn’t a casual matter, of course, not was the cause […]

At one time, it was common to exchange or replace a smartphone around the two-year mark. This was particularly true in the U.S., where wireless carriers would tie you in to a 24-month subsidy contract, where you’ll pay a small down payment — or no down payment — and take home your new phone. Only […]

In recent years, Apple has been criticized for trying to do too much, releasing OS updates with missing and/or delayed features. Or, worse, lots of bugs to drive users crazy. Despite assurances by Apple that its monitoring fewer problems nowadays, facts are nasty things that often get in the way. Consider two embarrassing problems for […]