By Ellie Zolfagharifard

 

A new study is backing up long held suspicions that Apple slows down older models of its iPhones to encourage users to buy a new release.

The U.S. study analysed worldwide searches for 'iPhone slow' and found that the search term spiked significantly around the time of new iPhone launch.



It then compared those results with similar searches for the term 'Samsung Galaxy slow', and discovered the term was unaffected by new releases from Samsung.

 

 

The study, compiled by Harvard University PhD student Laura Trucco, follows claims that the Cupertino-based company is deliberately sabotaging its old products.

 

Writing for the New York Times, Sendhil Mullainathan, a professor of economics at Harvard, described the results as 'striking'.

 

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