Apple hit with new lawsuit over throttling iPhones — what you need to know

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Apple is in trouble with Italy for slowing down older iPhones

iPhone 6s
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Apple has been hit with a third class action lawsuit in Europe, this time coming from Italy's Altroconsumo, the country's consumer protection agency, over what it calls "planned obsolescence" of older iPhones. 

It's related to a controversy from a few years back when Apple admitted to intentionally throttling down the performance of older iPhones in what it deemed as an attempt to save aging batteries. Apple actually called it a feature. Of course, many consumers saw it as the company artificially inserting pain points via software updates to coax users into upgrading. 

According to TechCrunch, the class action lawsuit is seeking €60 million for affected customers. This includes owners of the iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus and 6s Plus. This would give customers at least €60 in compensation on average. 

With Italy's latest filing, Apple still isn't out of the legal woods just yet. Portugal is expecting to file its own suit sometime soon. Last year Apple had to pay $500 million to settle in the United States, although the company denied wrongdoing. 

Euroconsumers, a gathering of five national European consumer organizations, actually put together a video to garner support for the class action lawsuit. It's well produced, even if a bit tongue-in-cheek. 

"Not only were consumers defrauded, and did they have to face frustration and financial harm, from an environmental point of view it is also utterly irresponsible" said Els Bruggeman, Head of Policy and Enforcement at Euroconsumers in a press release. “This new lawsuit is the latest front in our fight against planned obsolescence in Europe. Our ask is simple: American consumers received compensation, European consumers want to be treated with the same fairness and respect.”

The class action lawsuit was just filed, and could take years to litigate. If you're an iPhone 6 owner in either Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Belgium or Italy, bookmark the Euroconsumers website or follow the organization on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest updates regarding compensation.

Imad Khan
Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.