A consumer says that Apple has used software updates, including iOS 14.5, 14.5.1, and 14.6, to damage iPhone models 11, 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max in a class action lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Lead plaintiff Andrew Crittenden seeks to represent iPhone owners nationwide in a class action lawsuit filed in California federal court. Crittenden says that updates to certain iPhones have damaged their processing speeds and causes their batteries to drain faster. He accuses Apple of releasing the updates, knowing they will cause damage.
“This case is about knowing and intentional damage inflicted by Apple through software updates, including (but not limited to) to iPhone models 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max,” states the class action lawsuit.
Crittenden, a California resident, says he owns an Apple iPhone Pro Max. He says that he updated his mobile operating system, called “iOS,” as soon as the software became available. Crittenden says that Apple encourages users to update their iPhones to the latest operating system to help keep their devices secure; however, he says that after he updated his iPhone, he experienced slower performance and poor battery life.
Crittenden says that he is not alone and that within days of the Apple iPhone update being released, consumers complained of degraded performance and battery problems.
The class action lawsuit alleges that Apple knows the iOS update will result in problems for current iPhone users. In fact, the company relies on these problems, called “throttling,” in order to encourage consumers to purchase new and ever-more expensive iPhones.
The plaintiff accuses the tech giant of failing to acknowledge the problem even in the face of thousands of complaints by iPhone users who say that updates damaged their smartphones. Crittenden claims that it is in Apple’s own interest not to inform users that their devices will suffer if they download recommended updates.
Instead, claims the class action lawsuit, Apple lets users believe that poor battery life and failing performance is the natural result of an aging iPhone.
“Moreover, degrading device performance ahead of product launches may also allow Apple to drum up demand for faster phones with longer battery life. New iPhone models are typically launched every fall,” points out the complaint.
Apple has been accused of using updates to throttle older iPhones before. Several years ago, the company faced a number of throttling class action lawsuits after its iOS 11 update allegedly damaged the performance of smartphones and harmed battery life.
Crittenden wants to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who experienced problems with their iPhone 8 through the newest model after downloading iOS 14.5, iOS 14.5.1, or iOS 14.6. He accuses Apple of violating federal computer fraud laws, California consumer protection laws, and meddling with consumers’ iPhones.
The class action lawsuit wants Apple to pay damages, court, and attorney fees, as well as a court order stopping the company from releasing future harmful iOS updates.
Have you had trouble with your Apple iPhone update? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!
The plaintiff is represented by Alex R. Straus of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC.
The Apple iPhone Update Class Action Lawsuit is Crittenden v. Apple, Inc., Case No. 5:21-cv-04322 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California San Jose Division.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
1,336 thoughts onApple Accused of Intentionally Damaging iPhones with Update in Class Action Lawsuit
add me
I have the iPhone XR, I’ve had major problems with mine. Please add me
My I phone 12 pro has had some problems after the last update. holding a charge for less time. Screen changing without notice
My I phone is also messed up. I did a software update about two weeks and I could not get into my phone. Had to go to verizon to recover all my data, it took three hours. Cant access my wifi, cant hear my phone ring. Needs charged several times a day and charge does not hold.
Yes this has been recurring issue with just about every iphone I’ve ever owned, starting with the iPhone 3g being my first one. I noticed after basically approximately 1 year and a half, and almost to the day, each iPhone I would own would out of the blue just start to have issues, issues like data throttling, huge battery life issues, like it wasn’t a slow and steady decline in my iPhones battery life, it was as if just one and a half years of owning the phone, the battery would begin to drain unbelievably fast! I always felt as though apple would hide some countdown clock in their iPhones OS or maybe even on the devices BIOS itself, that would turn on specific phone damaging ‘problems’ after the phone reached a certain age, for me I feel like it was 1.5 years. Battery life, iPhones RAM dropping substantially causing so many programs to crash and no longer being able to run several apps at the same time without causing a crash of the Phones OS.
So after my first year and a half of owning the iPhone 3g, it’s constant problems which all seemed to begin occurring at the same time instead of what you would expect of an aging phone doing, having these issues begun occurring over time and getting progressively worse. So I upgraded to the iPhone 4. Same thing happens – about 1.5 years into owning the 4, exact same problems began to affect the phone nearly down to the day, same as prior phone. Had to upgrade to iPhone 5s. Had same issues begin just after 1.5 years of owning it. Finally after Upgrading to IPhone 6s, I actually was able to use consistently for several years, so I’m unsure if this was the phone that was released around the original data throttling class actions came about. Perhaps they kept a few generations from performing the same self-destructing process, but I was able to use this phone pretty well without failure until about 4 years later. This phone began to crash like crazy, especially when I would be playing games, or the second I would open a game or app it would just hang on a black screen until it decided to restart itself. It started happening so often I couldn’t keep using it, since it was flat out unreliable at all. I then upgraded to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I’ve now had this phone for roughly 1.5 years, so I’m awaiting issues to begin to afflict my phone. Actually, and considering id only had this iPhone for about 6-9 months before I started to have issues with a few things, no new expensive and sold to us as the best iPhone available from such a huge brand like Apple should already be experiencing the degradation of features to the extent I have been, such as, iPhones flashlight does not shine anywhere near as bright as when brand new, after just 6 months of use… the sound level and quality of my iPhones speaker mode has also degraded so much in the same amount of time as the flashlight did. Also the keyboard no longer is able to read what my fingers are actually typing causing me to have to actually delete the incorrect letter which is usually either just next to or below or above the actual letters I am touching. That issue has become one that is so time consuming from constantly having to correct the errors, since auto correct just sucks now…. and it’s become very much an annoying hinderance!
But those issues began just after 6-8 months of use… and I only use my phone for day to day web browsing, at times app playing, every few days checking emails… rarely texting, etc. nothing insane which could explain how much this phone has crapped out on me, especially taking into consideration how the iPhone 6s lasted me 4 entire years of heavy use… what the heck?!
Sorry I had the iPhone 5 not the 5s.
So iPhone 3g, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, and none of them except the iPhone 6s remained reliable and useful after reaching just 18 months of age. That’s insane, these devices should last a good while, I mean heck aren’t the contracts for receiving a device for free like 2 years of service to keep from having to pay anything for the free phone? Which never even lasted for 3/4 of that? Hmm… me thinks this Apple has got some worms working their way through its core….
My iPhone X just recently updated on the latest version. It started to malfunction I turned it off to see if the glitches would automatically fix themselves. The phone doesn’t come on at all now. The apple logo just flashes. APPLE is a big scam!
I own 5 count me in
I’ve noticed that my phones start slowing down after 2 years of using it.
Add me please
I upgraded from a 6 to an 11 because the 6 had to be plugged in all the time. The 11 wasn’t much of an upgrade as it has to be recharged in the afternoon after having been fully charged the night before.