The class action lawsuit requires Apple to pay compensation to “defrauded” iPhone owners for a mandatory software update.
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January 26, 2021 3 min read
The technology giant Apple faces a new scandal over accusations of planned obsolescence of its equipment. The Italian consumer association Altroconsumo filed a class action lawsuit against the company for 60 million euros (about 1,400 million Mexican pesos ). This seeks to compensate iPhone 6 users who were affected by a mandatory update .
According to Altroconsumo , the lawsuit covers the owners of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus equipment . The update resulted in a drop in performance for those models, for which Apple apologized and offered to replace the batteries at a reduced price . In other words, in the end, consumers had to pay an extra to the company to remedy the damage caused by it.
The case was also taken up by Euroconsumers , the association of European consumers, who claim that such compensation was not fair. Now, the organizations ask for an average compensation of 60 euros per team .
“When consumers buy iPhones from Apple , they expect sustainable quality products. Unfortunately, that is not what happened with the iPhone 6 series, ” reads a statement from Euroconsumers .
Today, @Euroconsumers and @Altroconsumo filed a class action lawsuits against @Apple in Italy. #StopPlannedObsolescence
This new lawsuit is the latest front in our fight against planned obsolescence in Europe. #GreenConsumerPower
https://t.co/90uDJ9YWPa pic.twitter.com/Iuk3Utgvip
– Euroconsumers (@euroconsumers) January 25, 2021
“Consumers were not only disappointed and had to face frustration and financial damage . From an environmental point of view, it is also totally irresponsible, ” said Els Bruggeman , Head of Policy and Compliance at Euroconsumers.
“This new lawsuit is the latest front in our fight against planned obsolescence in Europe. Our request is simple: American consumers received compensation, European consumers want to be treated with the same fairness and respect, ” said Bruggeman.
One lawsuit after another
In March 2020, Apple agreed to pay $ 500 million for purposely slowing down some older computers that updated their software to ‘protect components’. Shortly before, in November 2019, the company agreed to pay compensation of more than 113 million dollars for the same failure. Both complaints were filed in the United States.
The new iPhone models allow users to activate the adjustment on battery . Now they can choose to use their equipment at maximum performance, but they run the risk of restarting if it exhibits performance spikes that the battery cannot handle.
In statements quoted by El Financiero , Apple said that it has never done anything to intentionally reduce the life of any of its products, nor has it degraded the user experience to drive customer updates.
Euroconsumers is coordinating the demand for Altroconsumo and two other very similar ones, presented by users in Belgium and Spain . The organization plans to file a class action lawsuit in Portugal in the coming weeks, also for planned obsolescence of Apple equipment.