Apple has been facing a lot of heat since the company admitted to slowing down iPhones via software to prevent unexpected shutdowns caused by old batteries. The number of lawsuits kept on growing from 2, 8, 26 and now Apple is facing 61 lawsuits for this battery scandal. The company has been accused of throttling the performance of older iPhones via software updates, since 2016.
A while ago a report emerged regarding the case that all the class actions might be merged into a single lawsuit in the future. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said that all these lawsuits against the company should be sent to
U.S. District Court for Northern California for further legal action as most of the lawsuits are filed in the Northern District of California.
Honorable Judge Edward J. Davila, the Judge assigned to the case said in an official announcement, gave a statement,
“These actions share factual questions arising from allegations that Apple included code in updates to its mobile operating system (iOS) that significantly reduced the performance of older-model iPhones. Plaintiffs also allege that Apple misrepresented the nature of the iOS updates and failed to adequately disclose to iPhone owners the impact the iOS updates would have on the performance of their iPhones.
Discovery regarding the engineering of the iPhone and the iOS updates likely will be technical and complex. Plaintiffs assert similar causes of action for false advertising, alleged unfair business practices, trespass to chattels, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. Moreover, plaintiffs bring these actions on behalf of overlapping putative classes of iPhone owners. Moreover, plaintiffs bring these actions on behalf of overlapping putative classes of iPhone owners. Centralization thus will eliminate duplicative discovery; prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, including with respect to class certification; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary”
Apple admitted it that they intentionally slow down iPhones back in December 2017, and soon after that many users noticed that their iPhone’s speed returned to default after a battery replacement.
Since then Apple has announced a cheaper battery replacement program. They have also released an iOS 11.3 software update, that introduced a new battery management setting that would let users disable throttling including features that give users, a deeper idea of their iPhone’s battery status. The company has tried to maintain the idea that it’s not slowing down devices to convince customers to replace older iPhones that may feel slower than before.
Do you think Apple has the right to slow down iPhones? Do you support Apple or not?Let us know in the comments below.
