Apple tries to dismiss UK 'Batterygate' lawsuit

Apple is attempting to put a stop to a $2 billion lawsuit that continues the so-called "Batterygate" controversy over the throttling of iPhones.

In June, a lawsuit was leveled against Apple by a consumer rights activist in the UK, accusing Apple of failing to tell iPhone owners their devices would be "throttled." On Tuesday, Apple attempted to get the suit thrown out.

The lawsuit was originally by Justin Gutmann, demanding Apple pay over 750 million pounds ($900 million at the time) to approximately 25 million iPhone owners in the country. Gutmann's filed complaint, which effectively attempts a class-action lawsuit, accused Apple of using throttling to disguise how the batteries were inadequate.

The so-called "Batterygate" impacted models from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone X.

On Tuesday, Reuters reports the lawsuit has grown to 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion), as Apple fought the complaint at a London tribunal.

Gutmann's lawyer filings said Apple hid battery issues and "surreptitiously" installed a power management tool that throttled the iPhones. In asking London's Competition Appeal Tribunal to certify the case for it to proceed, the lawyers cited a 2020 settlement for a similar class-action lawsuit in showing Apple demonstrably admitting it happened.

Lawyer Philip Moser also insisted Apple had committed to be "clearer and more upfront" with users about battery health in discussions with the UK's competition regulator in 2019.

In its written arguments, Apple says the lawsuit is "baseless" and denied the batteries were defective, with the exception of some iPhone 6s models that it replaced for free. It also insists it didn't mislead customers about battery problems, and that it offered a public apology in 2017 complete with an offer of cheap battery replacements.

Speaking for Apple, lawyer David Wolfson said the lawsuit argues that "not all batteries could deliver the peak power demanded in all circumstances at all times," something that impacts just about every piece of electronics that contains a lithium-ion battery, especially as the battery ages.

6 Comments

coolfactor 2332 comments · 20 Years

About 1 year ago

chasm 3590 comments · 10 Years

Thankfully, this case is 100 percent guaranteed to be thrown out ail thanks to Gutmann’s completely unprovable claim that Apple used defective batteries. They didn’t, and have an army of experts (including Android users) who will happily testify that all batteries degrade over time.

In the case of smartphones, how you handle this in older smartphones comes down to two options:

1. Throttle performance **a little bit** to avoid a crash.

2. Crash.

We all know that Google and other Android makers chose the second path. Apple chose the first path, but erred in not disclosing this — which they’ve long since admitted to, apologised for, and already gone through remedial actions in the UK, US, and pretty much everywhere.

As long as that made up claim is the center of Gutmann’s case, he will fail.

flydog 1140 comments · 14 Years

JP234 said:

If you look up "frivolous lawsuit" in your legal dictionary, this is the one it references. At least in the private sector.

Apple spent half a billion dollars replacing batteries, which is far more than it would have cost to get "frivolous lawsuits" dismissed.

badmonk 1332 comments · 11 Years

Before this update, my iPhone 6S would suddenly crash during periods of heavy use and it stopped with this battery management update.

Apple’s motivation for the “throttling” was to extend the life of its phones and to prevent sudden crashes.

This issue is like a monster that is unable to be killed at the end of a horror movie.

davidw 2112 comments · 17 Years

flydog said:

JP234 said:

If you look up "frivolous lawsuit" in your legal dictionary, this is the one it references. At least in the private sector.

Apple spent half a billion dollars replacing batteries, which is far more than it would have cost to get "frivolous lawsuits" dismissed.

The limited time discount Apple offered to replace batteries on all existing iPhones at the time (except for newer iPhones still under warranty) had nothing to do with any settlement due to the lawsuits concerning their throttling software. The battery replacement program was a form of an apology from Apple, not some sort of admission that they installed batteries in their iPhones that were "defective", as you seem to be thinking.

And just how do you know Apple "spent" half a billion dollars on this program? For sure Apple didn't make nearly as much profit from charging $29 (instead of $59) to replace qualifying iPhones batteries, with no questions ask. But they still could have been making $1 or two per battery replacement. After all, third party repair stores can replace iPhone batteries for $30 and makes a profit. For sure you're not going to get an Apple OEM battery but Apple could be paying not much more for their OEM batteries (with their volume discount) than third party repair stores pays for their China knock off batteries. And as for labor, Apple is already paying the employees for the labor, whether they replacing batteries or working on other repairs. It's not as though Apple had to hire more employees, just to do the battery replacement. If anything, maybe more overtime cost.