Apple is trying to defend itself against a $2 billion mass lawsuit filed in London, where the tech giant stands accused of concealing defective batteries in millions of iPhones. The company has called the lawsuit “baseless” and is seeking its dismissal in the UK court.
Apple denies battery defects in response to UK class action lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed by consumer advocate Justin Gutmann on behalf of UK iPhone users, alleges that Apple hid battery issues in certain phone models by “throttling” them with software updates. The company is said to have “surreptitiously” installed a power management tool that limited performance. Apple, however, denies that its iPhone batteries were defective, except for a small number of iPhone 6s models, for which it offered free battery replacements.
Apple maintains that the power management update it introduced in 2017 was designed to manage demands on older batteries or those with a low level of charge. According to the company, the update only reduced an iPhone 6’s performance by an average of 10%. Gutmann has requested that London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal certify the case, allowing it to proceed toward trial.
The company’s defense is bolstered by its 2020 agreement to settle a US class action and regulatory action by US states over iPhone battery issues. Gutmann’s lawyer, Philip Moser, cites this as evidence that Apple is not “saying this never happened.” Additionally, Apple committed to being “clearer and more upfront” about battery health with iPhone users, as agreed with Britain’s competition watchdog in 2019.
Despite these agreements, Apple denies allegations that it misled customers about iPhone battery issues. The company has pointed to a public apology it issued in 2017, in which it offered cheaper battery replacements to affected customers as proof of its transparency.
In court filings, Apple’s lawyer David Wolfson argues that the lawsuit effectively alleges that “not all batteries could deliver the peak power demanded in all circumstances at all times”, a claim that he says is common to all battery-powered devices. The tech giant is determined to fight the accusations and seeks to have the case dismissed in the UK court.
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(Source)
