Two separate class action lawsuits have been filed against Apple regarding the tech giant’s slowing of older iPhone models. The plaintiffs claim Apple acted without user consent and that its actions were designed to drive new iPhone sales.

Acting Without User Consent?

Apple claims the reason it intentionally slowed performance of its older models of its iPhones is due to battery wear. That said, the plaintiffs in the lawsuits say these intentional device slowdowns were launched without user consent.
Apple has admitted to having deliberately slowed down several iPhone models, including the iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and SE once the batteries become older, cold or are running out of charge. The purpose is to help prevent sudden device shutdowns.
The lawsuits were both filed last Thursday. The first was filed in California and the second was in Illinois. They both state that Apple did not have the consent of the iPhone owners before the smartphones were slowed down.

Battery Wear Correction or Device Sale Strategy?

Two Chicago residents have joined several residents of North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio in claiming that the iOS updates that slowed the devices were “ fraudulently forcing iPhone owners to purchase the latest model offered by Apple.”

The filing stated that “Apple purposefully and knowingly released operating system software updates to iPhone 5, iPhone 6 and certain iPhone 7 phones that slowed the performance speeds of the central processing units (‘CPUs’) of these devices.” It was made in the Northern District of the State of Illinois. It added that the latest updates have “purposefully slowed or ‘throttled down’” the iPhone 5, 6 and some 7s. It states that the “operating system software updates wreaked havoc on batteries within these model devices.”

Economic Damages

The class action lawsuit in California was filed by two plaintiffs, Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas. They filed through the US District Court for the Central District of California. They are seeking damages as a result of Apple’s actions which they claim made them experience “economic damages and other harm for which they are entitled to compensation.” Those plaintiffs are attempting to pursue the case on behalf of all American Apple iPhone owners of models released prior to the iPhone 8.