Problems with iPhone Battery Defects Left Millions with Poor Options
The Apple iPhone has been both a technological and marketing marvel. Its sales skyrocketed over time, going from a little over one million units in 2007 to more than 200 million per year in recent years. Unfortunately, smartphones, in general, have had some glitches along the way, including multiple fires with certain Samsung batteries in a 2016 phone. That problem has largely been fixed, however, and phone battery fires have become very uncommon.
However, a rash of customer complaints with iPhone models starting in 2016 pointed to some other type of battery problem. It quickly became clear (at least to Apple) that many of their phones – eventually millions of them – were having frequent unexpected shutdowns.
Unfortunately, Apple found a “solution” for the problem that eventually resulted in the company being the target of a lawsuit in the U.S. brought by more than 30 states.
The “Fix” Became the Problem
It quickly became clear to Apple – although the company allegedly hid the facts for a long while – that problems with batteries were causing unexpected shutdowns frequently for some of their newest phone models. Rather than provide non-defective replacement batteries to their customers – remember, we’re talking about millions of iPhones here – they took a two-pronged approach to deal with their defective batteries that actually ended up making their phone and customer-relations problems even worse.
Don’t Admit the Problem & Discourage Replacing the Defective Product
First, Apple made it difficult for their customers to try to replace their batteries. To do this, they discouraged customers from seeking battery replacements, and in many instances, they required that the batteries fail Apple’s “special diagnostic test” that wasn’t even testing for the alleged defect.
This was while refusing to admit the actual nature of the battery problem that was causing frequent shutdowns. The true nature of the problem and Apple’s “fix” for it wasn’t made public until 2018.
Don’t Fix the Problem, Create Another Problem to Hide It
Apple’s second – and ultimate – solution to their battery problem wasn’t to fix the battery and provide replacements to its millions of customers. Instead, the company “pushed” a software update to millions of their phones that actually downgraded the iPhones’ performance so that they wouldn’t trigger the battery-defect-caused shutdowns.
This performance downgrade, known as “throttling,” was initially intended to extend the lifespan of aging batteries – what sounds like a reasonable purpose. But in a lawsuit brought by multiple states, it was alleged that Apple pushed this software update to throttle performance on phones that were not yet that old — without the customers being aware — and that this was intended to hide the battery defect.
Multiple Lawsuits and Investigations Spawned
The company’s actions not only deterred customers from being able to have their phones repaired – it was also alleged that the defect and the intentional throttling of phone performance were viewed as an opportunity to push the sales of new phones (that happened not to have the same battery defect).
The lawsuit brought by multiple state attorneys general was settled in 2020, with Apple paying $113 million that went toward the consumer protection agencies in the individual states. An earlier class action claim brought by consumers was also resolved in 2020 for up to $500 million at a rate of $25 per affected phone. Federal regulators were also looking at the possibility of criminal violations stemming from the company’s actions.
The Arizona Attorney General, who announced the settlement in the multi-state lawsuit, put it very simply when he said that major technology companies like Apple need to stop manipulating their customers and instead tell the truth about their products and any defects in them.
Fortunately, this product defect did not cause direct physical injuries to anyone the way that the earlier battery fire cases did. Unfortunately, at least one major smartphone manufacturer did not seem to have learned the lesson of being upfront with consumers about defective products and working to repair or replace defects instead of hiding them.
Watch YouTube Video – Lawsuit: Apple Slowed iPhones on Purpose. In the video below, CNN reports on multiple lawsuits against Apple claiming the company slows down its iPhones on purpose.
Personal Injury Attorney in Sacramento
Hello – I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento personal injury attorney. Defective products like phone and electronic device batteries can cause injuries and even death. If you need free and friendly advice for your personal injury matter, speak with one of our injury lawyers at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 or use our online contact form.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
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