The suit is being filed on behalf of up to 25 million UK iPhone users who used any of 10 different models of iPhone
A class action style lawsuit is being launched against Apple in the UK seeking damages worth a total of £768 million ($932m).
The representative action is being filed by consumer rights campaigner, Justin Gutmann, citing competition law – with the suit accusing the mobile maker of abusing its market dominance to engage in exploitative and unfair commercial practices when, per the claim, it misled iPhone users by applying a power management software update, first released in January 2017 in iOS 10.2.1, that throttled the performance of affected devices.
The suit is being filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London on behalf of up to 25 million UK iPhone users who used any of 10 different models of iPhone, from the iPhone 6 through to the iPhone X (and including the iPhone SE).
The latest UK action over the throttling issue follows what Gutmann describes as expert analysis carried out by technical experts instructed by his lawyers, Charles Lyndon Ltd, which he said demonstrates that Apple’s tool was introduced with the aim of reducing the demands on the battery, which had the effect of slowing the processor’s speed at peak performance by up to 58% in the case of the iPhone 6s and 7.
The complainant further claims Apple mislead consumers because information about the tool was not included in the iOS 10.2.1 update’s download description – meaning users were not made aware ahead of time of the detrimental effect it would have on their device.
Instead, users who failed to update to the latest iOS version were told they risked exposure to bugs and security flaws by missing out on key security updates. And the suit also claims some users will have been prompted up to 70 times to install the update in notifications, while those who did accept the update were unable to uninstall it, meaning they were stuck with any negative impact on their device performance.
Apple did later add mention of the tool to the release notes on its website but, again, the complaint will argue it misled customers by failing to make it clear the tool would slow device performance – only stating the update ‘improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns on iPhone.’
It also went on to apologize over its handling of the episode – and ran a battery replacement scheme through 2018 for all affected iPhone models – but Gutmann also accuses the company of failing to sufficiently publicize that program.
Commenting in a statement, he said: 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%.
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. If this case is successful, I hope dominant companies will re-evaluate their business models and refrain from this kind of conduct, he added.