Another day, another lawsuit — and “Batterygate” lives on! As noted by AppleInsider, a new class action lawsuit filed in California targets an iOS battery management tool that allegedly hindered the performance of certain iPhone 6, iPhone 7, and iPhone SE series devices.
Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the complaint comes on the same day as a submission deadline for iPhone owners to file claims in a US$500 million settlement that was reached earlier this year. The new lawsuit claims battery management tools were pushed out to “camouflage” a “defect” in iPhone, specifically battery designs that were “inadequate because they could not handle the power demands of the software Apple mandated users to run.”
The $500 million settlement would resolve dozens of lawsuits that were transferred to Judge Davila in April 2018 and consolidated the following May, after Apple admitted to occasionally slowing iPhones with older batteries to avoid unexpected shutdowns
The lawsuits allege that Apple’s actions violated Consumer Protection Act legislation. In December 2017 Apple published an apology letter to customers in regards to “Batterygate” for slowing down older phones to compensate for erratic battery performance.
The tech giant offered $29 replacement batteries for those with an iPhone 6 or later. Apple also added more battery health information to iOS to let users know when the battery begins to compromise performance.
