Apple under investigation by DOJ, SEC for disclosures of its iPhone slow-down update

Enlarge (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple's battery fiasco continues to grow as the US government gets involved. According to a Bloomberg report, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating if Apple violated securities laws with its disclosures surrounding a software update that intentionally slowed down the performance of older iPhones. The DOJ and SEC have requested more information from Apple on the subject.

No other details have been reported since the investigation is still new. It's possible that the government is looking into Apple violating the securities laws that require publicly traded companies to disclose accurate financial information, including risk factors associated with investing in the company. The DOJ and SEC may consider the update that included the slow-down practices a risk factor that could affect the company's stock and one that wasn't properly disclosed to investors. As of writing this article, Apple's stock fell 1.02 percent to $166.21 per share.

But this new investigation doesn't signal definite wrongdoing by Apple—just an investigation by the government to see whether or not wrongdoing occurred. It's also unclear which securities laws the DOJ and SEC are referencing—and since the probe is private, it's hard to anticipate when more information about the investigation will be made public.