Class Action Lawsuits Over iPhone Obsolescence

Euroconsumers, comprised of five European consumer rights organizations, is coordinating a third class-action lawsuit against Apple, Inc., it announced Monday. The lawsuit, filed by Italian watchdog group Altroconsumo, is about planned obsolescence in iPhone technology.

The suit “seeks compensation of at least €60 on average for owners of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus.” Planned obsolescence is the practice of manufacturing a product in such a way that it intentionally becomes out-of-date. Euroconsumers believes that Apple’s planned obsolescence of these phones is “environmentally irresponsible” and a “deliberate unfair practiceconsumer protection lawConsumer protection law is the body of federal and state laws designed to protect people from unfair, deceptive, fraudulent, or abusive practices in the marketplace. These laws regulate areas such as advertising, sales, lending, debt collection, credit reporting, warranties, financial services, and consumer products.Read more → towards consumers.” They chose the iPhone 6 series because it provides a “very concrete example” of planned obsolescence and the aggravation consumers experienced as a result.

The damages sought will total €60 million ($73 million U.S.) on behalf of Italian consumers.

The event that began this round of litigation was the download of iOS 10.2.1. This feature was intended to help aging iPhones by improving power management during peak workloads and preventing unexpected shutdowns. Apple didn’t advise consumers that avoiding shutdowns would require scaling down of device performance. After this feature was discovered, Apple cut prices on out-of-warranty battery replacements.

In an email, Apple said it had never intentionally done anything to shorten the life of any Apple product or to impair user experience in order to push them to upgrade their devices.

Euroconsumer is coordinating this and two other lawsuits previously filed against Apple. Similar suits were filed in Belgium and Spain in December. Attempts at dispute resolution before the filing of the lawsuits failed. These attempts included a “cease and desist” letter sent to Apple containing this allegation: “ very high number of consumers who own(ed) iPhone 6, 6s 6plus, 6s plus devices…had experienced malfunctions, loss of performance and sudden shutdowns of their smartphones, and that, to overcome them, they had had to replace the battery or purchase a later generation iPhone” after updating the iOS10 operating system.

A press release from Euroconsumers’ Head of Policy and Enforcement, Els Bruggeman, said, “When consumers buy Apple iPhones, they expect sustainable quality products. Unfortunately, that is not what happened with the iPhone 6 series. Not only were consumers defrauded, and did they have to face frustration and financial harm, from an environmental point of view it is also utterly irresponsible. This new lawsuit is the latest front in our fight against planned obsolescence in Europe. Our ask is simple: American consumers received compensation, European consumers want to be treated with the same fairness and respect.”

The respect and fairness Bruggeman refers to were the result of last year’s settlement of $500 million (about $25 per phone) in response to accusations of intentionally slowing down the performance of older iPhones to get users to buy new ones, or at least new batteries. Even though they settled the case, Apple denied any wrongdoing.

Additionally, Apple was fined €25 million by France’s watchdog group because of the iOS 10.2.1 update. In that case, Apple was also required to display a statement about their misbehavior on their website for a month.

AGCM, an independent administrative body known as the Italian Competition Authority, is concerned with unfair commercial practices. It sanctioned Apple in 2018 and fined it £10 million for “dishonest commercial practices” based on implementing an update that “caused serious malfunctions and significantly reduced performance, thus accelerating phones’ substitution.”

Apple was also in trouble with the Canadian government in 2018 for the same issue. In 2017, Apple admitted that it was slowing down iPhones with older batteries, but claimed it was to prevent unexpected shutdowns and to prolong battery life. Starting with iOS 11.3 iPhones, there’s a battery health monitor feature. With this feature, users can check the condition of their iPhone battery.

Euroconsumers will file another class-action lawsuit in Portugal in “the coming weeks.”