CHICAGO: IPhone owners from several states sued Apple Inc.
for not disclosing sooner that it issued software updates deliberately
slowing older-model phones so aging batteries lasted longer, saying
Apple’s silence led them to wrongly conclude that their only option was
to buy newer, pricier iPhones.
The allegations were in a
lawsuit filed on Thursday in Chicago federal court on behalf of five
iPhone owners from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina, all of
whom say they never would have bought new iPhones had Apple told them
that simply replacing the batteries would have sped up their old ones.
The suit alleges Apple violated consumer fraud laws.
A
similar lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Los Angeles. Both suits came a
day after Apple confirmed what high-tech sleuths outside the company
already observed: The company had deployed software to slow some phones.
Apple said it was intended as a fix to deal with degraded lithium-ion
batteries that could otherwise suddenly die.
“Our goal is
to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall
performance and prolonging the life of their devices,” an Apple
statement said. It said it released the fix for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and
iPhone SE and later extended it to iPhone 7.
Apple didn’t respond to a message Friday seeking comment.
