Italian Consumer Association Launches Lawsuit Against Apple for Planned Obsolescence

[HiVolt]

Well the iPhone 6/6s had the worst battery issues of any of my iPhones.

So Apple either specified inadequate batteries, or they sourced bad ones. Funny how those issues went away in 7/8.

 

[subi257]

Right, if anything Apple is one of the big tech companies that supports their devices the longest.

Just the technological improvements alone, miniaturization, screen technologies, radio-communication standards, etc. make it very hard for these companies not to produce a new device periodically. That does not mean you have to buy it every year but they definitely will make it, otherwise their competition will.

I think Android devices suffer from early obsolescence more than iDevices. Same applies to Macs, I know people still rocking 2012 and 2013 devices that work decently.



Man, it's too late for that, that trend started like 500 years ago, just like France. 😅

How many people are still running MacPro 1,1's.....It's crazy how long the Apple products last.

 

[ocnitsa]

I agree that, for the most part, Apple's devices last long and are fairly competitive, even as they age, depending on the model that you get. The 6S was a decent phone...but I disagree that the battery tech was advanced...in fact, I think the batteries in those models were garbage and tended to fail earlier than most. I had mine replaced something like 4 times, once within several months of the last replacement. In terms of the other iPhones I've owned, the 6S and the need to replace the battery in it was an outlier.

 

[SDJim]

So are they going to sue every other smartphone maker for supporting their phones for like 2 years, tops???

 

[LV426]

I think Apple already does a decent job supporting older platforms for many years. At some point, Apple or any other company, is going to "move on" to newer technologies.

I'm in two minds about this. I kind of think that, with such a high purchase price, you're buying a phone that should last many many years. In particular if you can replace the most obvious component that wears out: the battery.

A consumer may not be interested in the latest camera technology, LIDAR, 6G or whatever. But if his phone is connected to the internet he certainly wants to feel safe.

Thus, why shouldn't my new iPhone SE be working in 10 years time? Why should it be considered 'obsolete' and unsupported after 10 years? Apple do support fairly old devices, but it strikes me that they could do better, and employ a few more maintenance engineers. I'm sure if it came to it, users of really old but perfectly functional devices might be willing to pay for software updates to keep their devices safe.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I think the 1GB of RAM in the 6 was a bigger problem, especially because it was the third device in a row with same amount of RAM.

They knew that the larger screen would sell itself and so they included less RAM to save on costs.

 

[btrach144]

I think Apple already does a decent job supporting older platforms for many years. At some point, Apple or any other company, is going to "move on" to newer technologies.

This is about the fact that Apple was slowing down older iPhones, sometimes to a crawl, and never told consumers they were doing this, likely leading to millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars of extra iPhone sales.

 

[simnew]

Whilst Apple should have made a feature of this at the time, rather than kind of hiding it, they should try and take it to court as soon as possible so that the case is dismissed and the so called consumers' associate in Italy can be replaced by one that actually understands what customers really want.

Reality is that, in Italy, the extraordinary country with culture, art and an aesthetic that other countries can only dream of, has some of the worst consumer protection anywhere in the world. Example: You buy something from a shop and it is faulty - so you take it back.... I would like a refund. No. Not possible.

My Mother bought me this scarf and I really don't like it, can I exchange it for another one.... wellll, I suppose so.... tut tit....

I bought these towels, but they are shedding terribly, I would like to return them to you and either a replacement or a refund ? You must be joking.... you have used them.. Non e possible.

You buy something on your credit card and decide to change it because you couldn't try it on in the shop. The shop assistant recognises your dilemma and offers a refund. But because she rarely if ever does a refund (because Italy doesn't do refunds in general) she doesn't know how to refund the money on your credit card / doesn't know how to operate the till, can't be bothered to learn. So instead she returns the money to you in low denomination Euro's and coins.....

I kid you not !!! Personal and living experience of the great Italian consumer rights.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Call me crazy, but the number of iPhones that were told to be upgraded by genius & forums like these to solve the slowdown issue, the profit from that would dwarf any and every settlement they’ll ever make.

I mean, these multinational organisations are there to make a profit, and you mean it never occurred to them before that Reddit post went viral of the slowdown fix with a new battery instead of just having to upgrade and that it was normal?

I maybe cynical than most, but had Apple been more upfront about the slowdown then I would have been more inclined to change the battery instead of having to purchase a new iPhone, which I had too having owned an iPhone 6.

Guess we will never know, but they hardly deserve a praise for the ordeal.

Having stirred the hornets nest, I truly do believe that Apple has some of the best and longest lasting devices that I have ever owned, for the most part anyway.

 

[grad]

$5 might be insignificant for my pocket, but for a greedy evil company like Apple it is huge.

 

[ArPe]

Dumb lawsuit just for lawyers to get paid.

If you keep updating old devices with the latest system they will run slower and slower with each major update. Batteries wear out with time. Every ding dong knows these things.

 

[edgonzalez32]

I say this as someone who uses a Pixel 4; why is Google not receiving the same scrutiny? They only promise 3 years of updates. Apple has provided way more.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

The real problem with Apple doing what they did is that they stop signing previous versions of iOS a few days after a new version is released, thus preventing you to downgrade the OS to what the iOS device came with (or whatever ran better).

This is one of the primary reasons I left for Android seven years ago until now.

So I'm all for them getting smacked in courtrooms over this.

 

[Realityck]

Two similar lawsuits against Apple have been filed in Belgium and Spain for the planned obsolescence of iPhones.

European consumer association Euroconsumers, which is coordinating the three lawsuits, said it was also planning to launch a class action in Portugal in the coming weeks.

Another delayed money grab orchestrated by Euroconsumers.

 

[Glideslope]

Everyone wants a piece of that $2.40 Trillion Pie. Nothing more, nothing less. They always come looking to us for financial assistance. 😏

 

[alexandr]

as opposed to other maker's unplanned obsolescence, which happens much faster?

 

[ChrisA]

I think Apple already does a decent job supporting older platforms for many years. At some point, Apple or any other company, is going to "move on" to newer technologies.

Why? I've been a developer for decades, what we always do is put a check in the software and enable a feature or not based on if the platform can support it. Apple could do this with Macs and iPhones and in this way, a very old phone can still do what it was able to do years ago.

Or if Apple could not do this then why not unlock the old phones and publish documentation so the Open Source community could repurpose the old hardware. Apple could either support these older phones by allowing them to do what they always did or hand this off to others by making them open after they are a few years old.

But the bottom line is money. Apple can't sell you a new phone if your current phone still works so they have zero incentive to make old phones usable.

 

[I7guy]

This is about the fact that Apple was slowing down older iPhones, sometimes to a crawl, and never told consumers they were doing this, likely leading to millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars of extra iPhone sales.

Or not even $1m dollars. Of course, there will be those who jump out of the woodwork and loudly proclaim: "I was tricked, genius said my phone was broken". But we don't really know the impact, we can only spitball.

 

[CWallace]

Well the iPhone 6/6s had the worst battery issues of any of my iPhones.

So Apple either specified inadequate batteries, or they sourced bad ones. Funny how those issues went away in 7/8.

I had a 6 Plus for three years and not until late into the third year did my battery life start to really collapse, but then one's mileage may vary.

I think the 1GB of RAM in the 6 was a bigger problem, especially because it was the third device in a row with same amount of RAM.

They knew that the larger screen would sell itself and so they included less RAM to save on costs.

Well the 5s had 1GB so they may have thought it was enough. They did double it to 2GB for the 6S line, however...

 

[Christoffee]

If Apple need a witness I’ll happily rock up with my 6S and show them how I still use it every day. I’ll need to take a battery pack though, my cheap third-party battery is buggered. Again.

It’s iPhone 13 time for me though!! Wooooooo!

 

[neutrino23]

I'll never understand why every manufacturer of Android phones isn't sued for planned obsolescence by failing to provide software and security updates for the expected lifetime of the product, which would be 5 years in most countries, 6 in the UK for example.

Because Apple has deeper pockets. No point suing them if you can't get money from them.

 

[imac_g4_1702]

And everyone in that class action suit, outside of the lawyers, might get .7 cents each...if they are lucky. Class actions suits are the biggest waste of time. They only get lawyers rich.

Not sure if you've been following the lawsuit that went on in the U.S. I received my $10 bc the consumer group won the litigation.

I love Apple, but I can't stand people who blindly support everything Apple does. Please have some objective view on things. This was a bad move from Apple.

 

[Mac Prodigy]

Not sure if you've been following the lawsuit that went on in the U.S. I received my $10 bc the consumer group won the litigation.

I love Apple, but I can't stand people who blindly support everything Apple does. Please have some objective view on things. This was a bad move from Apple.

Did I comment on anything that Apple did. No, I didn't.

 

[asiga]

Apple should continue to support users in the same way as in the past (ie: letting users apply the wise technique "when it works, don't update it"). Macs were always very famous for letting users decide when (and whether) to update. If they did it for iPhones and iPads, they would last for more than a decade (just like Macs).

But, of course, Apple wants you to buy a new iOS toy every year, so... mandatory updates for everybody, and if you deny, then tiresome nagging screens until you mistakenly click on the accept button. And, for the sake of justifying this unacceptable behaviour, they make users believe that, by not updating, they made the world unsafer (soon it will be "if you drive your car manually, you harm humankind").

 

[MowgliWolf]

Seems a tad frivolous to me, I upgraded to an iPhone 8 two years ago so my fiancée inherited my launch iPhone 6. I’ve had the battery replaced in the last 6 years sure, but it’s still surprisingly solid. 6 series was pretty kick ass I always thought, never actually noticed the throttling issue until it came up in the news