Nine lawsuits have been filed against United States multinational technology company Apple for fraud, after the company said it slowed down older iPhones to compensate for poor battery performance, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Eight of the nine lawsuits have been filed in the US District Courts in California, New York and Illinois. They seek class action against Apple to represent potentially crores of iPhone users around the United States.
The lawsuits seek unspecified damages from Apple, in addition to reimbursement for the phones purchased. Two of the complaints ask for court orders barring Apple from reducing iPhone computer speeds, or at least informing customers before it does so.
A $125 million (Rs 801 crore) class action lawsuit was also been filed by two Israelis in Tel Aviv on Monday, Haaretz reported on Tuesday. The Israelis claim that Apple breached its duty toward consumers by concealing information. The suit accuses Apple of “breaching its basic duties toward users by failing to disclose that ‘innocent’ software updates would have negative implications for their phone use”.
On December 20, Apple admitted that it ensures iPhones with older batteries slow down so that they do not start shutting down unexpectedly. While some users said it was a strategy adopted by Apple to force customers to upgrade their phones, the company denied it.
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