Apple’s decision to purposely reduce the performance of iPhones continues to haunt it as the Cupertino giant is trying to put an end to a ‘batterygate’ gate lawsuit where the firm is being forced to pay out damages worth a jaw-dropping $2 billion.
Apple was originally demanded to pay $900 million in charges and is now urging a London tribunal to block the lawsuit
A consumer rights activist in the U.K. named Justin Gutmann filed a lawsuit against Apple in June last year, accusing the company of intentionally throttling the iPhone’s performance to save more battery life. Apple has attempted to get the lawsuit blocked at a London tribunal. Originally, the lawsuit filed by Gutmann demanded that damages of 750 million pounds, or $900 million, are paid to 25 million iPhone owners living in the country.
Now, the damages amount has risen to 1.6 billion pounds, or $2 billion, making it an excruciatingly hefty sum. Gutmann’s lawyers have stated in court that Apple hid battery issues existing within certain iPhones and installed a power management tool that limited the performance of various models, which ranged from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone X. The company has stated multiple times that the lawsuit is baseless, claiming that the batteries had no defect.
Apple also said that customers whose iPhones were affected were offered free battery replacements, restoring the performance of their devices. As for the power management tool, Apple says that it only reduced the iPhone 6’s performance by around 10 percent, as that addition was only for models featuring worn-out batteries or those running a low charge level.
Apple issued an apology to affected customers back in 2017 while offering $29 battery replacements for a limited time. The following year, the technology giant reportedly replaced 10 times as many batteries, totaling around 11 million affected units. The iPhone maker has also vowed to be more upfront with users concerning battery health, but that has not deterred Gutmann, as on Tuesday, he asked London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal to certify the case, allowing it to proceed to a trial.
News Source: Reuters
