Following the filing of a lawsuit claiming Apple of surreptitiously lowering the performance of older phones, millions of iPhone customers may be entitled for compensation.
According to Justin Gutmann, the business deceived consumers about an upgrade that was supposed to improve speed but really slowed phones down.
He’s suing for £768 million in damages on behalf of up to 25 million iPhone users in the United Kingdom.
Apple claims it has “never” decreased the life of its devices on purpose.
Apple allegedly delayed the performance of older iPhones in a method known as “throttling” in order to avoid costly recalls or repairs, according to the lawsuit, which was filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
It refers to the introduction of a power management tool in a January 2017 software update for iPhone users, which was designed to address performance concerns and prevent older devices from shutting down unexpectedly.
Mr. Gutmann, a consumer advocate, claims that the tool’s information was not included in the software update download description at the time, and that the corporation neglected to make it apparent that it would slow devices down.
He alleges that Apple created this mechanism to disguise the fact that iPhone batteries may have failed to run the newest iOS software, and that instead of recalling goods or supplying replacement batteries, the company instead urged consumers to download the upgrades.
“Rather of doing the right thing by its consumers and giving a free replacement, repair service, or compensation, Apple deceived them by hiding a tool in software upgrades that delayed their devices by up to 58 percent,” Mr Gutmann added.
The iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X devices are covered by the claim.
Customers will not need to join the action to seek damages because it is an opt-out claim.
“We have never, and will never, do anything to purposefully reduce the life of any Apple device, or impair the user experience to force consumer upgrades,” Apple stated in a statement.
“Making iPhones endure as long as possible has always been a key element of our mission of creating products that Apple consumers enjoy.”
