Apple to Face Lawsuit over Alleged iPhone Power Throttling Tool

In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the United Kingdom has ruled that a class-action lawsuit against tech giant, Apple Inc, can provisionally proceed. The lawsuit has accused Apple of misleading its customers about a debatable power management tool utilised in iPhones.

Apple's legal team had previously filed for the case to be dismissed, arguing that the iPhones in question did not meet the required standard. However, the tribunal rejected this claim. The lawsuit alleges that Apple, given its prevailing market position, informed its customers that software updates rolled out in late 2016 enhanced the battery life of their devices. In opposition, it is argued that the updates actually 'throttled' device performance.

In response to the tribunal's ruling, an Apple spokesperson defended the tech titan by stating, "We have never — and would never – do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."

Justin Gutmann, a market researcher is leading the suit on behalf of UK iPhone users. He claims that Apple intentionally concealed a power management tool in the software updates, thereby deceiving customers into believing that their phones' batteries were unable to handle the new software's processing demands.

Gutmann concluded by saying that this ruling "paves the way for millions of consumers, who were left paying for battery replacements or new phone models, to receive the compensation they deserve".