Apple Faces Class Action Suit in the UK over Battery Throttling
Back in 2016, owners of certain iPhone models complained that their phones were shutting down after heavy tasks. The issue was blamed on weaker batteries. Apple released an update, iOS 10.2.1, in January 2017 to throttle the CPUs of affected models. This helped reduce the strain on the batteries.
However, some iPhone users accused Apple of intentionally slowing down devices to push new iPhone sales. CEO Tim Cook addressed the concerns and apologized in December 2017, stating that Apple would never shorten the lifespan of its products. Apple also reduced the cost of replacing iPhone batteries by 63% throughout 2018.
One of the phones that Apple throttled was the iPhone 6s Plus
Lawsuits followed, leading Apple to introduce the Battery Health feature with iOS 11.3 in 2018, enabling users to monitor battery health. Now, a class action suit in the UK has been approved to proceed against Apple. The suit, led by Justin Gutmann, a consumer rights advocate, represents over 25 million UK iPhone users whose devices were throttled without their knowledge.
The affected models include iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus. Gutmann accuses Apple of leveraging its market dominance to encourage users to buy new iPhones or batteries. If the suit is successful, all UK consumers with affected models will receive compensation. Apple has labeled the suit as “baseless.”
