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Apple defrauded iPhone users by slowing devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance, according to eight lawsuits filed in various US federal courts in the week since the company opened up about the year-old software change. The tweak may have led iPhone owners to misguided attempts to resolve issues over the last year, the lawsuits contend.
All of the lawsuits — filed in US District Courts in California, New York and Illinois — seek class-action to represent potentially millions of iPhone owners nationwide. A similar case was lodged in an Israeli court on Monday, the newspaper Haaretz reported.
Apple did not respond to an email seeking comment on the filings.
The company acknowledged last week for the first time in detail that operating system updates released since "last year" for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 included a feature "to smooth out" power supply from batteries that are cold, old or low on charge. Phones without the adjustment would shut down abruptly because of a precaution designed to prevent components from getting fried, Apple said.
The disclosure followed a December 18 analysis by Primate Labs, which develops an iPhone performance measuring app, that identified blips in processing speed and concluded that a software change had to be behind them.
[...] The problem now seen is that users over the last year could have blamed an ageing computer processor for app crashes and sluggish performance — and chose to buy a new phone — when the true cause may have been a weak battery that could have been replaced for a fraction of the cost, some of the lawsuits state. "If it turns out that consumers would have replaced their battery instead of buying new iPhones had they known the true nature of Apple's upgrades, you might start to have a better case for some sort of misrepresentation or fraud," Boston University professor Rory Van Loo, who specialises in consumer technology law, said.
[...] The lawsuits seek unspecified damages in addition to, in some cases, reimbursement. A couple of the complaints seek court orders barring Apple from throttling iPhone computer speeds or requiring notification in future instances.
Previously: Two Class Action Lawsuits Filed After Apple Admits Slowing Down iPhones
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday January 04 2018, @05:17AM (1 child)
Oh look, an uninformed comment.
This isn't about reduced battery life, this is literally about sudden shutdowns.
As in, your phone is fully charged, but if you visit a web page that contains slightly more JavaScript than normal, your phone shuts down. It's still fully charged, mind you, the battery just isn't providing enough voltage for the CPU as it clocks up so the phone dies.
You could even play a game! How many times can I get the phone to shut down before I hit 50% battery capacity?
There are lots of things to complain about Apple, but this isn't one of them (considering you already bought into the garden, stupid).
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 04 2018, @02:33PM
"the battery just isn't providing enough voltage"
That is pretty much the definition of "not charged". Your indicator for your battery charge is apparently indicating that your battery is charged to it's current capacity. It is NOT telling you that your battery is "fully charged". Let's take a standard 12 v wet cell battery, like most of us have in our vehicles. A full charge for such a battery is typically very close to 13.5 volts. As the battery ages, it may take a little less charge, you lose a little of the cold cranking amps, and the process continues until (usually) the first cold winter day. All of a sudden, you don't have enough voltage and/or CCA to start the vehicle.
Now, how about we do with your vehicle, like Apple did with their batteries? We allow the battery to lie to the user. "Oh, yes, I'm charged!! I have 13.5 volts and 550 CCA, and I'm ready to go!" And the damned battery is still lying to you on that cold ass winter morning, when you can't start the engine. Your volt and ampmeter (assuming you have meters) show normal readings, but the car won't crank.
I'd be pretty damned pissed off if I decided, "Well, it's got to be the starter", go buy a starter, and the car stll won't start. Next thing, buy new battery cables because you know all about voltage drop, and old rotten cables. Still no go. The battery says it's in new condition, I know the starter and battery cables are new, - so where do I go from here? Call a real auto mechanic, right? He charges me like $350 to tow the car, and put a new battery in it - and only then tells me that batteries lie all the time.
Apple should have TOLD PEOPLE that their batteries are on their last legs, and unable to keep up with normal demands. The subterfuge just goes to show what a shitty company they really are.
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