A consumer champion’s £853 million claim against Apple linked to an incident in 2017 around a power management tool on older iPhone models has been granted the go-ahead by a UK court.
On Wednesday, the tribunal decided the claim can proceed to a full trial, finding that “the requirements of a CPO are met in this case, subject to the resolution of the terms of funding to which we have referred above”. It relates to the introduction of a power management tool released in a software update to iPhone users in January 2017, which was rolled out to slow down older iPhone models with ageing batteries, which may have struggled to run the latest iOS software, in order to prevent abrupt device shutdowns.
The legal claim says Apple did add a mention of the tool to the release notes for the update on its website at a later date but says the company failed to make clear that it would slow down older iPhones. But Mr Gutmann claims Apple failed to sufficiently publicise its battery replacement service pricing of £25 plus return shipping and that the company abused its dominant market position.It seeks compensation for each model owned and is an opt-out claim, meaning customers will not need to actively join the case to seek damages.