Judge dismisses lawsuit against Apple over Meltdown, Spectre vulnerabilities

A potential class action suit alleging that Apple knowingly failed to disclose that its 2017 iPhone were vulnerable to Meltdown and Spectre hacks, has been dismissed — again.

The suit, originally filed in 2018, was previously blocked by a US District judge in 2019 over the plaintiffs' allegedly "self-serving and selective reading" of test results.

According to Reuters, Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, has now dismissed the case. The plaintiffs argument centered on how they allegedly overpaid for their Apple device.

The complaints centered around claims that that that Apple concealed the vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the suit claimed that updates made the devices significantly slower.

Judge Davila said that the plaintiffs failed to show that they had relied on Apple's marketing when buying. He said that Apple's assertions that its devices were "secure" and built "with your privacy in mind," were too general.

Further, he said that Apple had not falsely or misleadingly claimed its then-new processors were faster, or lasted longer than previous ones. Apple's marketing statements were not rendered false by how some number of users may have experienced degraded performance.

"Plaintiffs have failed to allege an affirmative misrepresentation, an actionable omission, and actual reliance," on misstatements by Apple, ruled Judge Davila. However, plaintiffs do have until June 30 to replead their case.