Claim for $935 million against Apple launched over alleging battery ‘throttling’

Apple is facing another multi-million-pound lawsuit to reimburse millions of iPhone users for deliberately slowing down the performance of older iPhones in 2017 to force customers into buying newer models of iPhones, reported The Guardian.

In January 2017, a software update that was released by an unknown battery management system slowed down older versions of iPhones to stop them from shutting down without warning. However, Apple didn't give a provision to users to disable that setting and also did not inform users about their intentional throttling of the phones.

Consumer rights campaigner Justin Gutmann filed a lawsuit at the Competition Appeals Tribunal accusing Apple of abusing its market presence to engage in manipulative and unfair commercial practices to exploit consumers.

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Gutmann has appealed on behalf of 25 million UK iPhone userswho have used one of the ten different models of iPhone. The lawsuit relates to the use of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X models.

Gutmann told The Guardian, "I'm launching this case so that millions of iPhone users across the UK will receive redress for the harm suffered by Apple's actions."

According to Gutmann, Apple deliberately did not inform consumers that their older iPhone batteries could not cope with the new demands, and the company released a new software update knowingly that it would make the phones worse, which would push consumers to buy newer versions.

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Apple has been sued several times in other countries over the iPhone throttling issue.

"Instead of doing the honourable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58%," The Guardian reported quoting Gutmann.

"If this case is successful, I hope dominant companies will re-evaluate their business models and refrain from this kind of conduct," he added.

The throttling issue was acknowledged by Apple nearly one year after it was introduced. The company claimed that the battery was in poor condition and was not able to supply the required maximum current that the phone's processor demanded at full speed. According to Apple, the update helped with the phone shutting down and was intended rather to allow the phone to continue functioning, just at a slower pace.

Guardian quoted a statement made by Apple on Thursday, "We have never and would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."

"Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that," the statement added.

iPhones presently have an option on the settings menu that shows a report about whether the throttling is in effect.

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