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woman holding apple iphone xr in hands

UPDATE: On Nov. 16, 2020, a federal judge partially granted and partially denied Apple’s motion to dismiss the iPhone XR class action lawsuit.


Apple has been hit with a class action lawsuit by numerous customers who claim that the tech company’s iPhone XR contains an inferior antenna which causes the phones to have half the signal connectivity and 4G speed of their predecessor phones, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max.

The plaintiffs say that the XR is equipped with a 2×2 MIMO antenna array instead of a 4×4 MIMO antenna array which Apple used on its iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. The 2×2 antenna allegedly causes decreased performance on the iPhone XR.

The Apple class action lawsuit states that, in January 2020, Apple admitted that the iPhone XR has connectivity issues on a major cell network in the United Kingdom and the company has yet to offer a solution to consumers in the UK or the United States.

Even now, the tech company has reportedly not found a fix to the iPhone XR connectivity defect. Instead, when approached by customers, Apple allegedly replaces the iPhone XR with a new iPhone XR with the same connectivity system, “leaving consumers caught in a cycle of use, malfunction, and replacement.”

One plaintiff in this case, Alison Coleman, says that she purchased four iPhone XRs around January 2019. Soon after purchasing the iPhone XR, Coleman explains that she started having trouble with connectivity issues.

She alleges that she would be unable to hear callers voices or they would be unable to hear hers. In addition, she argues that she sometimes would be unable to send text messages and would have intermittent or inoperable data connections.

Coleman states that she complained to Apple about the issues that she was having with her iPhone XR and was told by an authorized dealer to reset her phones to the factory default. She maintains that she performed this task but her iPhone XR continues to have the same issues.

The plaintiff reportedly found out via the press that her iPhone XR was designed and manufactured with the inferior 2×2 MIMO antenna array instead of the 4×4 antenna array that was used on the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max as well as other phones from competitors that are in the same price point of the iPhone XR.

Coleman argues that she was not aware of any features on the phones that would make it less capable of internet and voice capability than other iPhone models. 

Specifically, the Apple class action states that she was not made aware that the iPhone XR was equipped with an inferior 2×2 antenna array that would prevent her from connecting with voice and data networks.

If she had known that the iPhone XR had an inferior 2×2 antenna array, Coleman claims that she would not have purchased the phone or would have paid less money for it.

apple logo on the back of an iphoneLike Coleman, the other plaintiffs in the Apple iPhone class action state that they had no knowledge of the defects when they purchased the phones.

They claim that the defects in the phone are latent because they are not obvious upon reasonable examination of the iPhone XR and the defects were not disclosed in advertising and marketing materials.

Apple should have known about the inadequacy of the iPhone XR antenna array from numerous sources, including pre-release design, manufacturing, and testing data as well as consumer complaints made to the company, according to the plaintiffs.

The Apple iPhone XR class action alleges that consumers started posting on internet forums about the connectivity issues soon after the iPhone XR was released to the public. In addition, the plaintiffs say that the press also started writing about the connectivity issues that the iPhone XR was having.

Despite knowing about the defect, the plaintiffs argue that Apple failed to disclose the defect in the iPhone XR and instead actively concealed the issue from the public. Apple allegedly continues to market and sell the iPhone XR with the lesser quality antenna array.

“Despite several reports that Apple would attempt to resolve the iPhone XR connectivity issues by switching the phone to a 4×4 MIMO antenna array for its fall 2019 product release, there is no evidence that it has done that, and even recent purchasers report the same connectivity issues as day-one purchasers,” according to the Apple class action lawsuit.

Prospective nationwide Class Members include individuals “who presented their phone to Apple, an authorized Apple reseller, or an authorized Apple service center for repair of connectivity issues, whose iPhone XRs were not fixed, or were replaced with iPhone XRs.”

Did you purchase an Apple iPhone XR and experience connectivity issues? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Shana E. Scarlett, Ben Harrington Steve W. Berman, and Thomas E. Loeser of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The iPhone XR Class Action Lawsuit is Elaine Anderson, et al. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 5:20-cv-02328, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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984 thoughts onApple Class Action Alleges iPhone XR Antenna Defects

  1. Theresa Tate says:

    Purchased an XR on Jan. 31,2021 and my reception has been so bad since. I blamed it on the other individuals cell phones. It is mine.
    The ones I speak with say I am in a “barrel”, breaking up, volume of my voice coming and going. No specific time or place. Whether on WIFI, LTE, or 5G, does not matter where I am making the calls.
    Went to Apple twice and they tested and reset my phone. The second time after being totally exasperated of continued poor reception…. Apple swapped out my new cell. Same problem continues. Apple tells me no problems with my
    XR with the hardware or software, speaker or microphone.
    Told me there were problems with my carrier, AT and T.
    I called AT and T more than once and a ticket was made on my cell to check out any issues on their end.
    No technical issues found, states
    AT and T. They reset my cell to factory defaults. I did a reset on my phone.
    Continue to have problems with others hearing me with breaking up, in a “barrel”. I have been sent in circles and no resolution or improvement.
    Please add me to the list.
    Apple phones are so expensive and should not be having these issues.
    Not dependable when using.
    What are customers to do?

  2. Margaret Hendley says:

    I purchased 3 phones and they all have the same connectivity issues. Add me to the suit

  3. Seth Frazier says:

    Add me to this lawsuit. I have been dealing with these issues since January 2020. My phones data never works and it’s always slow and it’s not a carriers issue and also I will only have one bar when my wife has the same network as me and she will get 4 to 5 bars on her samsung phone when my iphone will only get 1 bar. It drops calls all the time the data on it loads very slow and mostly is non existent hardly works at all. Even the wifi has issues connecting to my home internet. I have no issues connecting to any other device in the house only my iphone. I even had a friend give me a samsung phone and I popped my sim card into it and it works great no issues and works great. So its definitely not the carriers fault its apples fault for selling faulty phones. They have even been sued for purposely slowing down iPhones to get you to buy the newest model.

  4. Kelli Post says:

    ADD ME TO THIS LAWSUIT!! My issues with iPhone 11 XR are EXACTLY what is stated above. 6 months I have been trying to get the problem corrected. Apple sends me back to my carrier.

  5. Kelli Post says:

    My issues with iPhone 11 XR are EXACTLY what is stated above. 6 months I have been trying to get the problem corrected. Apple sends me back to my carrier.

  6. Antonette says:

    Been having issues for almost 2 years.

  7. LeAnn Kreps Schneider says:

    Are people being added to this lawsuit as I own an XR.

    I would like to be added.

    My issues with this phone is so long.

    My carrier says to buy a new iPhone 12 & upgrade to 5G network.

    Apple where I purchased it always has the same story. Buy the latest model.

  8. Marshette Young says:

    Mines want keep signal

  9. Tonya Demarco says:

    Please add me I purchased the iPhone XR through T-Mobile and after months of not being able to hear anyone or dropped conections I purchased the new iPhone 11 we pay a high price for iPhone normally 600-1000 per phone they should be top of the line and work properly and if not should be compensated or replaced with a new not refurbished phone

  10. Ladeshia Boyd says:

    Please add me. I purchased one for my son on T-Mobile network.

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