William Gallagher
Following the same argument as a previous class action lawsuit, and filed in the same court, a new suit attests that by failing to disclose the importance of key iPhone XR component details, Apple knowingly profited from selling "inferior" technology.
Filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the new complaint, embedded below, says that Apple has "breached its express and implied warranties.
The suit is filed on behalf of 13 named individuals, and all other buyers similarly affected. Each of the 13 have reportedly experienced similar issues with their iPhone XR, such as those of one plaintiff, Robert Altman, whose problems are detailed.
"Plaintiff Altmann has been having reception issues since he purchased his phone," says the filing, "including frequent dropped calls, calls cutting in and out, and slow download speeds. Plaintiff Altmann is having worse reception and connectivity than he had with his prior phone, the iPhone X."
"Also, Plaintiff Altmann's family members, who cohabitate with him and do not use or own the iPhone XR, report that they do not have connectivity issues with their phones," it continues.
The case revolves around the 2x2 MIMO array in the phone. Where devices used to have a single antenna for receiving cellular data, a MIMO array lets a phone use two or more such antennae simultaneously. This lets the device can transfer more data at once, which means faster download speeds.
While the iPhone XS Max and iPhone XS Max Plus have 4x4 MIMO arrays, the iPhone XR has 2x2 one. "The 2x2 MIMO antenna array is inferior technology that causes connectivity problems such as slow download speeds and frequent dropped calls," says the lawsuit.
"Apple knew or should have know that it was selling an inferior product," it continues, "yet Apple failed to disclose the iPhone XR's defect to consumers who reasonably expected the latest Apple product to have the most advanced technology."
The suit quotes user complaints and press reports about what it refers to as this defect. Testing in publications at the time the iPhone XR was released did show poorer connectivity speeds when compared to the iPhone XS Max and iPhone XS Max Plus.
Separately, connectivity problems were also generally reported, and Apple claimed that it would be addressing the issues.
Apple did promote the iPhone XR on an iPhone comparison page with just the information that it contained MIMO capabilities. However, the company's technical description page explicitly states that the iPhone XR uses 2x2 MIMO — and has since launch.
The suit seeks unspecified damages, plus legal fees, and "an order enjoining Apple from further deceptive and unfair business practices."
iPhone XR Class Action by Mikey Campbell on Scribd
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15 Comments
Well it obviously is inferior in a way that MU-MIMO and beamforming works much better with 3x3 or 4x4 compared to the 2x2 since there are one (or two in 4x4) more dimensions in which to solve the optimisation problem to maximise the spectral power at the receiver in uplink direction to the access point, it's not just a matter of parallel channels but a matter of receive / transmit power and certain tricks you can do with 4x4 that you can't do with 2x2 (or at least in a limited way) to improve signal quality (and therefor range, speed and efficiency). 4x4 is much, much more than 2x2 + 2x2. BTW, that's a lot of what 5G (or 5G in its higher bands of mm-wave with its massive antenna contraptions) is all about.
But of course, it's simpler to advertise not the other advantages of having more antennae but the theoretical PHY transmission rate for the layman.
So it is not 'inferior' but really inferior in what the word implies. Had I seen this I would have second thoughts buying an XR, but that's probably just my perspective as an electrical engineer / developer.
Thanks for the article, we don't get to see such interesting things (and the reporting around these things) in Europe ^^
Ah, geeze, Edith!
I don’t see how they have a case. This was on the spec sheet. One reason I chose the max as someone who (used to) travels a lot. This is equivalent to a class action against an automaker for only disclosing that the smaller engine on a lower end model has less horsepower on a spec sheet. How does this make sense. Obviously there are going to be differences between an expensive phone and an inexpensive one.
Why would you downgrade with “upgrading” the iPhone X to the iPhone XR?
Can’t fix stupid. But, I guess you can still call your lawyer for that...