Apple Faces iPhone Class Action Lawsuit Due to Impaired iPhone Performance

Apple Inc., a California corporation, faces an iPhone class action lawsuit filed by plaintiff John Solak, a New York resident on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated.

According to the iPhone class action lawsuit, Solak says that he purchased his iPhone 6 roughly two years ago. He says he later installed and downloaded an iOS update. He claims that following the update, his phone slowed down, giving him poorer performance than what he originally paid for.

Solak states that it was in June 2017 that he noticed how significantly his installation of the iOS download began to affect his phone’s performance. Moreover, he says that thanks to press report releases, he realized that “Apple had intentionally caused this throttling without his knowledge or permission.”

iPhone Class Action Lawsuit

The Apple iPhone class action lawsuit states that the tech giant company deliberately designed recent iOS updates to slow down older iPhones in the hopes of causing owners to upgrade and trade them in for a new iPhone. Solak proposes to represent a Class of consumers who after upgrading their iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE, and iPhone 7, through an iOS update, had their phones slow or unexpectedly shut down.

In a report released from GeekBench on Dec. 18, 2017, Apple admitted to the deliberate changes it made to the iPhone software to allow the phone to run slower. According to Apple, however, they stated that these changes were necessary. Apple explained that the older an iPhone got, the more unable it was to counter an iPhone’s power demand. An iOS change was made to allow the system’s processing to not require as much power.

However, the GeekBench report questioned what was going on. They explained that “While we expect battery capacity to decrease as batteries age, we expect processor performance to stay the same…” After the battery is replaced, an iPhone’s Geekbench score report allegedly increases, as well as the performance of the phone.

The iPhone class action lawsuit seeks to represent consumers who developed a loss in the iPhones’ performance and speed following an iOS update. The company is accused of failing to inform consumers that a simple battery change could have improved their iPhones’ performance at a much lower cost than the purchase of a new phone that ranges at about $1,000 per new device.

Critics state that Apple should have been more transparent with making the necessary changes in its software and upgrading to a new iOS version of the phone that would impact its speed and performance.

According to the iPhone class action lawsuit, “[w]hether Apple had good reason to install performance-throttling software on certain iPhone models is debatable to say the least.”

“In fact, Apple’s decision to engineer and install throttling features without the knowledge or consent of its customers speaks to a design, manufacturing, or marketing flaw, or some combination of these flaws.”

The iPhone Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-00123, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

UPDATE: July 2020, the Apple iPhone performance class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

Join a Free Apple iPhone Throttling Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you owned an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that performed slower after an iOS update or would unexpectedly shut down for seemingly no reason, you may qualify to file or join an iPhone class action lawsuit.

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