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Senate commerce leader confronts Apple about iPhone slowdown

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The chairman of the U.S. Senate's commerce committee wants Apple to lift the veil on its once-secret slowdown of older iPhones.

Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, issued his request for more information in a letter sent Tuesday to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Among other things, Thune wants to know if Apple made any effort to notify its customers that its recent software updates would make several types of iPhones released before 2017 slow down when their batteries weakened.

Thune also asked Apple whether it considered replacing the batteries for free, instead of the current discounted charge of $29 that it began offering in late December after acknowledging how its updates affected older iPhones

Thune demanded a response by Jan. 23. Apple declined to comment.