A group of 18 plaintiffs has launched a new class action lawsuit in a federal court in San Jose, accusing Apple of fraudulent behavior in deliberately throttling older iPhones with weaker batteries. According to a news report, the plaintiffs, who are from different parts of the country, have specifically charged Apple with violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, the Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and the “trespass to chattels” rules.
Lawsuit Seeks Punitive Damages
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and compensation, including punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. It states that after several years of consumer frustration, on Dec. 20, 2017, Apple admitted to “one of the largest consumer frauds in history, affecting hundreds of millions of mobile devices across the globe.”
In April 2018, a judicial panel ordered the consolidation of 61 similar lawsuits. It isn’t clear if this one will also be grouped with others.
The iPhone slowdown issue started in late 2017 when a Reddit user found CPU throttling after running impromptu benchmarking tests. At the time, conspiracy theorists said Apple intentionally built the feature. Apple’s fix was implemented in iOS 10.2.1 to prevent sudden shutdowns when a chemically depleted battery would not supply sufficient power to keep the phone running.
Apple ultimately apologized to iPhone owners in December 2017 for a lack of transparency. The company slashed prices on out-of-warranty battery replacements and later delivered software updates that expanded data and allowed people to reduce instances of throttling.
Value of a Class Action Lawsuit
In this instance, Apple did, in fact, confirm that the feature it introduced in 2016 to guard against issues brought on by aging batteries slows down older iPhones. The feature was implemented on the iPhone 6, 6S, and SE during a software update on the iPhone 7 with the release of iOS 11.2. Apple said it slowed down phones with older batteries, low charges, or cold batteries.
When consumers buy Apple products or any product, they expect it to work as intended. A “class” or “group” of people who have suffered harm due to an organization or corporation’s actions file a class action lawsuit. Class action lawsuits empower ordinary citizens to hold large corporations accountable. We hope this lawsuit helps bring out the facts of this case and gives these consumers their day in court.
Source: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/08/01/new-california-class-action-joins-dozens-more-over-iphone-throttling-issue
