Apple says it told customers it was slowing their iPhones from the beginning — but it just told Congress a different story (AAPL)

Apple responded to Senate questions about an extremely controversial software update that slowed down older iPhones.
In the letter, Apple says it is "exploring" giving a rebate to people who bought battery replacements at full price.
It also provides a detailed timeline of how it told customers about the software update.

Apple provided additional details about its practice of slowing down certain older iPhones in a letter to Senate lawmakers released on Tuesday.

In the letter, Apple confirmed that the controverisal power management feature at the heart of the issue was released to iPhones in January — and yet, Apple confirms that it did not publicly acknowledge the change until a month later, on February 23, 2017.

Apple also says in the letter that it is "exploring" the possibility of giving money back to those customers who paid the full price of $79 for a replacement battery. In the wake of the battery scandal, Apple lowered the price for an iPhone battery replacement to $29. While the move was welcomed, it disappointed customers who paid the original price.

The letter, signed by Apple VP of public policy Cynthia Hogan, is dated February 2. It was sent in response to a January letter from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Apple has been under intense fire for a software update that slows down the CPU speed on certain iPhone models when their batteries wear down.

The company says that the reason for the software update is to prevent unexpected shutdowns when a battery cannot provide enough current for the iPhone's CPU.

But there is a lot of consumer anger around the software feature, particularly because it seems to confirm a long-time conspiracy theory that Apple slows down old iPhones to get people to upgrade to newer models.

"Apple's recent actions related to performance of iPhones with older batteries were based on providing our customers with the best experience," Hogan wrote.

"As we said publicly, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades," she continued.

How Apple notified its customers

When asked about the scandal on television last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that customers were told about the power management feature at the time.

Republican Senator John Thune, who chairs the Senate Commitee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said in a statement that Apple has acknowledged that its initial disclosures of the software update "came up short."

"I appreciate Apple’s response to my inquiry and the company’s ongoing discussions with the committee," Thune said. "In those conversations, Apple has acknowledged that its initial disclosures came up short."

"Apple has also promised the committee some follow-up information, including an answer about additional steps it may take to address customers who purchased a new battery at full price," he continued.