Apple Loses Bid To Shut Down U.K. iPhone Class Action Suit

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. has lost a bid to dismiss a London class action lawsuit that accused it of misleading customers on a controversial power management tool in iPhones.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal, the court which deals with the UK’s collective proceedings, ruled the class action can now provisionally go ahead, according to a ruling on Wednesday. Lawyers for Apple had asked for the case to be struck out on the grounds that the devices in question were substandard.

The suit alleges that Apple abused its dominant market position by informing customers that software updates from late 2016 improved the battery life of the devices when in fact it allegedly quietly “throttled” it. 

“We have never — and would never – do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades,” an Apple spokesperson said following the decision. 

Justin Gutmann, a market researcher who is bringing the suit on behalf of UK iPhone users, said Apple concealed a power management tool in the updates to hide that the phone’s batteries couldn’t handle the new software’s processing demands.

“This paves the way for millions of consumers, who were left paying for battery replacements or new phone models, to receive the compensation they deserve,” Gutmann sad in a statement.

Read more: Apple Accused of Misleading iPhone Customers in New UK Lawsuit

(Updates with a comment from Apple in the fourth paragraph)

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