LONDON: In a setback for tech giant Apple, the company has lost its bid to halt a mass lawsuit in London that accuses it of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones through the use of software updates to “throttle” their performance.
The lawsuit, initiated by consumer champion Justin Gutmann on behalf of iPhone users in the United Kingdom, has been permitted to proceed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).
Gutmann’s legal team argued that Apple deliberately hid issues related to iPhone batteries in specific phone models and discreetly installed a power management tool, limiting the devices’ performance.
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Apple countered these claims, labeling the lawsuit as “baseless” and vehemently denying that iPhone batteries, apart from a few iPhone 6s models, were defective. For the latter, Apple had previously offered free battery replacements.
Despite Apple’s protestations, the CAT ruled that Gutmann’s claim should be certified to continue. However, the tribunal also pointed out “a lack of clarity and specificity” in the case that needs to be addressed before any trial proceedings can move forward.
