BRIGGS: Well, if you own an iPhone, something you don't want to hear this morning, phone updates are actually slowing down older models. Let's bring in CNNMoney correspondent Samuel Burke live in London. Samuel, good morning to you. Lots of us have thought this for years, but why might it be happening?</s>SAMUEL BURKE, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: This is an urban tech legend that goes back for years, but it turns out, it may not be so untrue, not like a lot of us tech people thought people were just complaining. Basically, what people have always thought is when a new iPhone comes out and then they do an iOS update to their current phone, all of a sudden, it slows down, making them think Apple is trying to force them to buy one of the new iPhones like one you see on your screen. Well, this morning, an Apple spokeswoman confirmed to me it's true, the iOS updates do slow down your phones if you have an iPhone 6, 6s or se, but not for the reasons people might suspect. They say basically what's happening is the battery peaks sometimes as it gets older, causing the phone to shut down, so they're sending out an update that will slow down the phone a bit but prevent that battery from peaking and shutting down, though I'm sure some people will still suspect otherwise.</s>BRIGGS: Yes, we certainly will. I've always wondered about this slowdown. Samuel Burke, thank you, my friend.</s>ROMANS: A CDC study says America is losing the battle against opioid addiction. New statistics show overdose deaths spiked to more than 42,000 in 2016. That's the most ever and more than annual deaths from breast cancer. West Virginia, Ohio, and New Hampshire have the most overdoses. President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in October but has not allotted any money to combat it.</s>BRIGGS: All right, ahead, Republicans are celebrating after passing this massive tax plan. Now on to government funding, which is set to run out tomorrow night, the Friday before Christmas.
Apple Acknowledges Updates Slow Older Phones.