An iPhone user has taken to TikTok to share her suspicions around a new Apple update and the coincidental release of the new iPhone 16, asking the tech company to “explain yourself.”
The video, uploaded by user Sarah Doses (@sarahdoses), claims that the timing of the iOS software update so soon after the release of the new iPhone model is a cause for concern, especially since the settings update left “broken”, “frozen [and] overheating.”
Doses begins the video, which has now been viewed over one million times, by addressing Apple directly, before listing off the range of problems she encountered after installing the iOS update. “Why, when I update my phone, it suddenly doesn’t work?”, she questions, while claiming her device is “broken… the storage is full [and] it’s lagging.”
“It just doesn’t want to work,” Doses said of her phone following the update. The iPhone 15 user went on to call out the coincidental crashing of her device in the same month that Apple released its newest iPhone 16. “Suddenly you have an update,” Doses said, “when the new phone comes out?”.
Doses went on to suggest that Apple purposely offers iOS updates that diminish the phone’s health so that users are forced to buy the new model. She said the tech company is basically saying “’we’re gonna ruin your phone so you can buy the new phone,’” and was particularly angry about the situation since her current model had never lagged before and “was working perfectly until you decided to update.”
Doses went as far as calling for Apple to rename their iOS updates as “software downgrades,” and vowed to not buy the new iPhone 16. “Stop trying to steal my money,” Doses said, “I need an answer now, Apple. Comment below.” In the replies to Doses’ video, many phone users cited similar situations, some claiming they avoid updating their software for the same reason.
One TikToker said they went as far as selling their iPhone after they encountered similar issues, while others listed problems with storage, battery health and lagging following iOS updates. At the other end of the spectrum, however, some iPhone users claimed their devices had been “working fine” since the update and suggested that Doses invest in a Samsung phone to avoid the issue altogether.
What Doses is referring to is not unfounded, since Apple was the subject of a lawsuit in 2017 that alleged the company deliberately slowed down some iPhones as they got older. The lawsuit has since been settled, with Apple claiming the lawsuit was “baseless” and that the company had never intentionally shortened the life of its products.
Doses isn’t the only Apple user to take to TikTok to share grievances about their phone, with one man recently lamenting the fact that the iPhone voice assistant Siri is able to leave outgoing voicemail messages. With so many iPhone debacles, I’m sure Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker is taking copious notes for the upcoming season, using videos like Doses’ as evidence.