Photo: Jan-Otto (Getty)
Just one day after Apple admitted to slowing down older iPhones in order to prevent unexpected battery-related shutdowns, two iPhone owners have decided to sue the technology giant. The two guys, Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, both students at USC’s law school, filed the lawsuit and argue that Apple slowed down their phones without their permission. Both men also allege Apple intentionally interfered with the phones to damage them, which became a “substantial factor in causing (iPhone owners) to replace iPhones, buy new batteries, or loss of usage of their iPhone.”
Makes sense.
Here’s what Apple said recently about the slowing down of older phones:
“Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.”
The statement drew widespread reactions on social media. It also fanned speculation by some about whether Apple slows down old iPhones to pressure users to upgrade to a newer model.
Bogdanovich and Speas allege Apple breached implied contracts with them and other iPhone owners by “purposefully slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out and by failing to properly disclose that” when they bought their iPhones.
Bogdanovich and Speas, represented by the Los Angeles-based Wilshire Law Firm, argued that Apple never asked them for permission to install this feature and did not give them the option to choose or bargain a way to turn off the feature.
Are these dudes going to win? No. But it is fun seeing some regular Joes take on a massive company like Apple. I’m just going to assume these two dudes are sending each other gifs and memes right now…using their iPhone.
