Apple faces $11.9 million class action lawsuit in South Korea over ‘Batterygate’

Apple is facing a 12.7 billion won (approximately $11.9 million) class action lawsuit in South Korea regarding “Batterygate,” reports ZDNet.

The law firm Hanuri, representing 63,767 consumers, filed a class action lawsuit against the tech giant over the company’s intentionally slowing down performances of older iPhone models to prolong their battery life. It’s the biggest in terms of plaintiffs for a single lawsuit in South Korea. Hanuri is demanding 200,000 won, or US$188, per plaintiff for duping consumers and causing mental distress, notes ZDNet.

The Batterygate brouhaha alleges that Apple’s iOS software updates for iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, and 7 Plus were provided to iPhone users under the pretense that the software updates were necessary to deliver enhanced security and performance. In reality, however, the updates allowed Apple to slow down the performance of these updated iPhones. This practice is known as “throttling” because Apple intentionally slows the phone’s CPU.