This week’s top stories: Apple admits to slowing older iPhones, upgraded AirPods coming in 2018, and more

In this week’s top stories: Apple confirms that it slows down older iPhones, the iMac Pro starts arriving to customers, drone footage shows Apple Park starting to live up to its name, and more. Read on for all of this week’s top stories and videos…

Following earlier speculation, Apple confirmed this week that it does slow down older iPhone models to account for battery wear. The company stated that this feature started with iOS 10.2.1 and most recently came to the iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2.

Because of that tactic, Apple is already facing several lawsuits alleging that it unethically implemented the change, it is forcing people to upgrade with planned obsolescence, and more.

Elsewhere this week, a college student outlined how iOS could adopt a system-wide dark mode. Apple has generally been hesitant to implement a dark mode, but with the iPhone X’s OLED display, now seems as good of a time as ever.

New drone footage this week offered our latest look at Apple Park. As we noted in our coverage, this video shows Apple Park starting to live up to its name with gorgeous outdoor scenery.

Finally, as people do their last-minute holiday shopping, AirPods are once again out of stock from Apple and most third-party retailers. This means those who waited until the last minute will be forced to spend their money elsewhere if they need a gift to buy for Christmas.

These and the rest of this week’s top stories below:

iPhone | 

• Apple admits it slows down old iPhones (but for the right reasons)
• How to: Check iPhone battery health, DIY replace, and speed up performance
• Apple faces first class action lawsuit after confirming it slows down older iPhones with battery wear
• Comment: Slowing down older iPhones may be the right thing to do, but it opens a can of worms
• Geekbench developer links iPhone performance issues to battery age and iOS updates
• What do you think of Apple slowing down older iPhones to account for battery wear? [Poll]
• Early adopters of iPhone X rate it 4.64/5 in online reviews, citing three plus points
• A look back at a decade of the iPhone making some companies rich, bankrupting others

AirPods |

• AirPods sold out from Apple & other retailers until 2018, frustrating last-minute holiday shoppers
• KGI: Analyst believes Apple to launch ‘upgraded’ AirPods in second half of 2018
• A more accessible future: AirPods, hearing aids, and the audio technology to make it possible

Mac |

• Report: Apple to support cross-platform apps that run on iPhone, iPad and Mac next year
• New photos and video show iMac Pro orders arriving ahead of schedule
• LG announces drool-worthy 34-inch ultrawide ‘4.5K’ monitor w/ Thunderbolt 3
• Concept imagines the Mac Apple will never make: the MacBook Touch

iOS | macOS | tvOS | watchOS

• British college student imagines system-wide dark mode on iPhone X
• Apple releases second iOS 11.2.5, watchOS 4.2.2, and tvOS 11.2.5 betas [U]
• Apple to start off 2018 with a New Year’s Apple Watch Activity Challenge
• Review: Bridge Constructor Portal brings the fun of Valve’s hit game to iOS in a clever way

AAPL Company |

• Latest drone footage showing Apple Park starting to live up to its name
• Bloomberg: Apple building an Apple Watch with a built-in EKG heart monitor
• App Store guidelines updated w/ new info on template apps, VPNs, cryptocurrencies & more

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This week’s top videos |

• Hands-on: MobileMiner – how to mine cryptocurrency on an iPhone [Video]
• Hands-on: Nomad Leather cases for iPhone X [Video]

Happy Hour Podcast #152 |

This week Benjamin and Zac discuss the iMac Pro launch, using Amazon Echo and Alexa with HomeKit products, the fake Cuphead game that appeared on the App Store, Apple throttling older iPhone batteries, iOS 12 and macOS 10.13 cross platform apps, and the Apple Watch New Year’s Challenge.

Check out our 9to5Mac Holiday Deal Hub for exclusive deals on great Apple accessories.

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