Did Apple mislead Iphone users about target of updates?

Did Apple mislead Iphone users about target of updates?

London, 6/18/2022

A lawsuit filed in the United Kingdom by consumer advocate Justin Gutmann accuses Apple of misleading consumers about updates that intentionally slowed the performance of older iphones.

According to Gutmann, Apple gave users the impression that updates released in 2017 would improve battery life and performance. Instead, the company quietly throttled the phones without disclosing this at the time.

Gutmann claims Apple intentionally misled users and abused its dominant position by hiding the tool in the software updates, which he says slowed the phones „by up to 58 percent.“

The lawsuit covers iPhone models from the 6 Series to the X. Through the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Gutmann is seeking a class action lawsuit on behalf of U.K. iPhone users that could potentially affect 25 million people. The plaintiff estimates total compensation of up to 768 million pounds ($927 million).

In a statement, Apple said : „We have never – and would never – do anything to intentionally shorten the life of an Apple product or degrade the user experience in order to get customers to buy upgrades.“

Earlier this year, Apple had agreed to pay compensation to some iPhone 4S owners in New York and New Jersey to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of throttling the phone’s performance.