Apple Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for iPhone 5 Wi-Fi Defect That Caused Data Overages

[MacRumors]

Apple today was hit by a class action lawsuit from iPhone 5 and 5s users on AT&T's network. The lawsuit alleges that the Cupertino company knowingly concealed a defect in the iPhone 5 and 5s that caused the devices to use LTE data even when connected to a Wi-Fi network.

In September 2012, some iPhone 5 users noticed the bug after finding that they were going through more data than usual. Shortly after the issue came to light, Apple and Verizon issued a fix for the bug, with Verizon confirming that users affected by the bug would not be charged for their data use.

However, according to an investigation by law firm Hagens Berman, Apple and AT&T never issued a fix nor did they acknowledge the defect. The firm and plaintiff Thomas Palmer believe that Apple should not have kept the fix from AT&T customers, and that the company failed to address the issue even as it released iOS 7 and the iPhone 5s.

We believe Apple should not have withheld this repair for AT&T Wireless subscribers for any period of time. By withholding this information and repair, consumers were unaware of the defect and were left to sort out high cellular data charges with their wireless carriers.

Specifically, the law firm says the defect occurred when a user streamed "high volumes of data" for 10 to 20 minutes. In this case, the GPU would take over all video decompression, decoding and presentation to the display. Because of this, the CPU was not needed and would go to "sleep" to conserve battery life. When the CPU went to sleep, the defect caused both the iPhone 5 and 5s to switch from streaming data via Wi-Fi to LTE.

Article Link: Apple Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for iPhone 5 Wi-Fi Defect That Caused Data Overages

 

[SSD-GUY]

I think my iPhone still does this tbh. Weird.

 

[nazaar]

and it begins.... again.

 

[mikeyteh]

Maybe Samsung can just pay for this class action lawsuit and get rid of the middle man

 

[MacCubed]

My iPhone 5 on Verizon still does this, last month it burned through 10GB of data without me knowing....

 

[rolsskk]

One would imagine that hiring a lawyer would be a whole lot more expensive than overage fees.

 

[Analog Kid]

I love bugs like this! Totally bizarre sequence of steps that leads to an unchecked failure. Whoever tracked this one down was feeling good that day!

 

[pad1986]

I'm not sure this is an Apple problem...

Apple are not responsible for your data plan... essentially it would have to be the phone companies to notice an issue and then either rectify the problem or contact apple to report an issue.

Clearly this wasn't affecting all carriers and all phones.

Carriers install their own profiles onto the phone - so i think it should be the individual phone companies that should be taken to court for not issuing a fix or informing their customers of the possible problem.

 

[kgtenacious]

I'm not sure this is an Apple problem...

Apple are not responsible for your data plan... essentially it would have to be the phone companies to notice an issue and then either rectify the problem or contact apple to report an issue.

Clearly this wasn't affecting all carriers and all phones.

Apple wrote the code, Verizon and Apple both knew about the code problem and issued a fix, why Apple didn't offer the fix to ATT is beyond me. This certainly is an Apple problem, as well as an ATT problem.

 

[iapplelove]

Can unlimited data people get in on the class action lol

I love bugs like this! Totally bizarre sequence of steps that leads to an unchecked failure. Whoever tracked this one down was feeling good that day!

When you sell 10 million devices someone's going to find the lucky combo

 

[koulmj]

One would imagine that hiring a lawyer would be a whole lot more expensive than overage fees.

Word!

 

[Altis]

I've had 6 GB/month for over 5 years now (all with iPhones), and I never once went anywhere near that limit... until I got my iPhone 6. I've been over or near every month since.

It seems like something's up.

 

[73b]

I was affected by this bug on Verizon and never found a solution. Apparently Verizon's fix worked but I was still charged for overages caused by random usage of over 100MB overnight during previous months. Wish I could get in on this.

 

[The Doctor11]

AT&T customers would be so happy to receive $0.02 in the mail for a phone bill that cost them hundreds of dollars.

 

[kgtenacious]

I love bugs like this! Totally bizarre sequence of steps that leads to an unchecked failure. Whoever tracked this one down was feeling good that day!

If you read the complaint, especially section III, you'll see that it was not by any means a bizarre sequence of steps.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

And some of the so-called plaintiffs are grandfathered on unlimited.

 

[Trius]

Sure is convenient for At&t. I can't imagine why they ignored this issue.

 

[Tbone999]

I had this same problem with my daughter's iPhone 4. ATT claimed large data overages; when I looked them up they all occurred at around 3-4 a.m., a time at which my daughter was in bed in our house and any activity on the iPhone should have been on wifi. (The other issue being, what was going on at that hour with her phone when she was asleep.) ATT blamed Apple and Apple said I had to take it up with ATT; the issue was never addressed.

 

[BruiserBear]

One would imagine that hiring a lawyer would be a whole lot more expensive than overage fees.

That's not how this works. The law firm investigated this problem on behalf of customers and filed the lawsuit. It's now seeking customers who are interested in joining the lawsuit. In other words the customers have no risk and no costs.

 

[Brandhouse]

Seriously?! Only in America. I'm not responsible, I'm too dumb to find out how to change something and everything is 'your' fault.

 

[JonneyGee]

Anyone know how to get in on this?

 

[macs4nw]

One would imagine that hiring a lawyer would be a whole lot more expensive than overage fees.

The 'legal scoundrels' talked them into it no doubt, and convinced the AT&T subscribers there's free money to be had.....

 

[rizzo41999]

Happens on my 5S all the time. AT&T.

 

[gotluck]

Seriously?! Only in America. I'm not responsible, I'm too dumb to find out how to change something and everything is 'your' fault.

What is the 'change sonething' that one can do to fix this?

 

[PBRsg]

Seriously?! Only in America. I'm not responsible, I'm too dumb to find out how to change something and everything is 'your' fault.

This behaviour is different from what is documented and mobile plans are almost always more expensive than home Wi-Fi. I don't like ridiculous lawsuits but it seems like this could have cost people money.