Apple Slowed iPhones, Forcing Owners to Buy New Ones: Suit

Apple hit with lawsuit Friday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 23, 2017 3:54 PM CST
Apple Slowed iPhones, Forcing Owners to Buy New Ones: Suit
In this March 9, 2015 file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus during an Apple event in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

iPhone owners from several states sued Apple Inc. for not disclosing sooner that it issued software updates deliberately slowing older-model phones so aging batteries lasted longer, saying Apple's silence led them to wrongly conclude that their only option was to buy newer, pricier iPhones. The allegations were in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Chicago federal court on behalf of five iPhone owners who say they never would have bought new iPhones had Apple told them that simply replacing the batteries would have sped up their old ones, the AP reports. The suit alleges Apple violated consumer fraud laws. A similar lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles. Both suits came a day after Apple confirmed what high-tech sleuths outside the company already observed: The company had deployed software to slow some phones.

Apple said it was intended as a fix to deal with degraded lithium-ion batteries that could otherwise suddenly die. The Chicago lawsuit suggests Apple's motive may have been sinister, though it offers no evidence in the filing. "Apple's decision to purposefully ... throttle down these devices," it says, "was undertaken to fraudulently induce consumers to purchase the latest" iPhone. Plaintiff Kirk Pedelty, of North Carolina, contacted Apple as his frustration grew. However, the lawsuit says: "Nobody from Apple customer support suggested that he replace his battery to improve the performance of his iPhone. ... Frustrated by slowdowns and intermittent shutdowns of his iPhone 7, Pedelty purchased an iPhone 8." The lawsuit seeks class-action status to represent thousands of iPhone owners nationwide.

(More iPhone stories.)

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