Apple confirmed on Tuesday that it has stopped selling its AppleCare extended protection plan in its Italian stores, and cut off distribution to authorized resellers, in response to continuing antitrust concerns associated with EU warranty laws.
In the latest chapter of Apple's Italian AppleCare saga, two consumer advocacy groups on Wednesday confirmed the launch of a class action lawsuit, alleging the company has continued to violate the EU's warranty regulations despite being fined in December.
It will be several more weeks before Apple is expected to eliminate the backlog of orders for its new MacBook Pro with Retina display over at its online store, but one of the company's resellers said this week it's ready to ship both models immediately with added savings.
The Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO) announced intentions to move forward with a lawsuit against Apple over information provided on the company's website which allegedly misleads buyers into purchasing the add-on AppleCare Protection Plan.
While Apple's online store continues to list wait times of 2 to 3 weeks on new orders for its 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina display, one of the company's authorized resellers — which is also offering AppleInsider readers the lowest prices anywhere — has received stock of the high-end model and is ready ship the new notebooks immediately. Separately, a second reseller is offering additional savings when purchasing new Macs alongside AppleCare.
Apple lost an appeal of an Italian case that fined the company 900,000 euros, or roughly $1.2 million, for allegedly not furnishing an adequate amount of information regarding mandated product guarantees and warranty stipulations.
Apple is offering customers who pre-ordered the new 8GB iPhone 4 or the iPhone 4S an extended opportunity until Nov. 14 to buy an AppleCare+ warranty for their device.
After introducing a more comprehensive extended warranty option for iPhone buyers, Apple is reportedly curtailing liberal exchange policies in its retail stores to make the new option more attractive.
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Mikey Campbell
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
