Apple is currently facing eight lawsuits over its iPhone slowdown practice, and one of those suits is seeking nearly $1 trillion in damages.
A few days ago, Apple admitted that it intentionally throttled the performance of some iPhones because the batteries degraded over time, and it wanted to avoid sudden shutdowns. All hell broke loose after the disclosure, and iPhone owners rushed to file class action lawsuits against Apple.
While most people expect smartphone battery life to degrade over time, they don't expect the manufacturer to slow down the device's performance on purpose, without any warning or mention of it. When Apple came clean, iPhone owners felt cheated and are now seeking retribution.
Apple Sued For Nearly $1 Trillion
Apple explained that it slowed down iPhones with older batteries to prolong their battery life, but the disclosure also fueled up other theories. The most popular one is that Apple intentionally throttled older iPhone models to force customers' hand into buying the latest-generation iPhones.
The company releases new flagships each year, and some argue that iPhone fans are more likely to upgrade to a newer model if they are no longer satisfied with their older iPhone's performance.
As Patently Apple reports, Apple is facing eight lawsuits over its iPhone slowdowns and one of them, filed by a Violetta Mailyan in California, seeks a staggering $999 billion in damages.
iPhone Users Forced To Upgrade?
"Each member of the Class had to buy a newer iPhone model because the performance of their older model had slowed down as a result of Defendant's purposeful conduct," alleges the lawsuit.
The suit further argues that if Apple would've been more transparent about its practice to throttle older iPhones, at least customers would've had the option to replace their device's battery rather than purchasing a new iPhone altogether.
Instead, Apple acknowledged that it slowed down iPhones and explained why only after a Reddit user revealed that replacing the iPhone's battery would restore the handset's performance to its former glory.
Disgruntled iPhone users have filed class action lawsuits against Apple in several major states in the United States such as New York, California, and Illinois, as well as globally, including in Israel. Some lawsuits are also seeking a court order that would prevent Apple from messing with the performance of devices in the future.
It remains to be seen how things will pan out for Apple, but it doesn't look good at this point. More lawsuits are expected to pile up, and the company might not come out of this unscathed.
