Apple slapped with $918 million lawsuit over iPhone software update
"We have never — and would 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.
FollowApple is facing a £750 million (878 million euros, $918 million) lawsuit in the United Kingdom after a consumer rights advocate filed a claim on Thursday accusing the US tech giant of surreptitiously slowing down older iPhone models.
According to Justin Gutmann, Apple "throttled" the performance of earlier iPhone devices after consumers made upgrades that they were assured would boost the device's performance.
He alleged that Apple never informed consumers that the upgrade may cause their smartphone to slow down, and that the tool was designed to disguise the incapacity of older iPhone batteries to meet the demands of newer operating systems.
"We have never — and would 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.
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"Our objective has always been to build products that our customers love, and having iPhones last as long as possible is a big part of that," the company said.
Gutmann's action with the Competition Appeal Tribunal seeks £768 million in damages for 25 million iPhone customers.
The issue centres on a power management mechanism included in a 2017 software update that slowed down older iPhone models and prevented them from shutting down unexpectedly as they battled with the overhead of a new operating system.
In the same year, French regulators penalised the company 25 million euros for neglecting to warn that upgrades may slow down older devices. Owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X devices are seeking reimbursement.
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Gutmann believes that Apple never informed consumers that the upgrade may delay their iPhone and that the tool was developed to avoid costly repairs or recalls.
"Instead of doing the right thing by its consumers and providing 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 per cent," Gutmann added.
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Apple apologised at the time and stated that it will replace batteries at a reduced cost and allow consumers to disable the power management function manually. It has been sued in numerous countries over the problem, and has promised to pay up to $500 million to owners of earlier devices in the United States by 2020.
