Presumably they mean that a slowed down iPhone would be much preferred than one that shuts down at random. That being said, naturally users weren’t too thrilled by this admission and a class-action lawsuit has since been filed against the company. In a report from TMZ, this lawsuit was filed by Stefan Bodganovich.
At this point in time it’s probably too early to tell what will become of this lawsuit, and whether or not Apple will simply choose to settle, or if they plan to fight it. Based on Apple’s previous statement, not only do they stand by their decision to slow down older iPhones, but they also plan to apply it to future products in the future.
Based on this it sounds like Apple firmly believes in what they’re doing, which means that they could plan on fighting it. Whether or not they’ll walk away victorious remains to be seen, but in the meantime if you are experiencing a slowed down iPhone, it seems that it could be worth considering having its battery replaced.