Apple is facing a new lawsuit from Deco Proteste, a private consumer organization in Portugal, about “planned obsolescence” with the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus. The suit alleges that Apple’s planned obsolescence forces consumers to buy a new phone before they would otherwise need it.
As reported by Marketeer, this consumer protection organization waited three years without an answer from Apple in Europe before filing this lawsuit. Now, Deco Proteste is taking the company to court to defend 115,000 Portuguese iPhone users.
This is not the first time that Apple is being sued for alleged “planned obsolescence” of the iPhone. After several lawsuits and bad press, Apple announced in 2017 that it would temporarily lower the price of replacing the iPhone battery and promised an iOS update to address battery health.
The statement published today by this private consumer protection organization in Portugal claims that Apple manipulated iPhone users:
Apple deliberately manipulated, and without informing its users, the performance of its most popular devices, the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus. In doing so, Apple forced several users to replace the battery of their devices or to buy a new smartphone.
Deco Proteste is part of Euroconsumers, which has five members of consumer protection organizations in Europe and Brazil. In 2020, the Rome Administrative Court ordered Apple to pay a € 10 million fine. In the United States, Apple managed to avoid a lawsuit with a $ 113 million settlement.
Deco Proteste argues in this action that Apple should pay users affected by the replacement of the battery and 10% of the iPhone’s value. It corresponds to € 7 million, or € 60 by telephone in Portugal.
Deco Proteste also released a video on February 10 calling for more iPhone users in Portugal to join the cause. In the video, the FTC of Portugal scoffs at the way that Apple advertises products and, ironically, says that “it seems that some people like to be deceived”. You can watch it below:
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