A UK consumer champion has launched a £750 million lawsuit against Apple, claiming that a software update slowed down older devices.
Gutmann has filed a claim with the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal in order to get damages for up to 25 million UK owners of older iPhone models.
Apple introduced power management features for older phones to prevent unexpected shutdowns during times of peak power draw on devices with degraded batteries. Slower performance is caused by the power management feature that slows the processor on older phones with less than optimal batteries.
According to Gutman, Apple hid the fact that iPhone batteries were unable to cope with new processing demands and instead encouraged users to download the software updates.
"Instead of doing the honorable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58%," Mr Gutmann said.
"I'm launching this case so that millions of iPhone users across the UK will receive redress for the harm suffered by Apple's actions.
"If this case is successful, I hope dominant companies will re-evaluate their business models and refrain from this kind of conduct," he added.
Many customers felt deceived by Apple because the power management features were not widely known.
Apple apologized for failing to explain how battery health could affect performance. The policy offers low-price battery replacements for out of warranty devices.
In 2020, the company agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a long-running class action lawsuit in the United States that accused the company of secretly slowing down older iPhone models. Apple has been sued in several European countries.
The claim relates to the iPhone 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X models. Customers won't have to join the case to seek damages because it's an opt-out claim.
Apple told The Guardian that they would never do anything to degrade the user experience.
Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhone last as long as possible is an important part of that.
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