Users could be eligible for payouts over claims that Apple slowed down iPhone batteries

Justin Gutmann’s court case could see payouts for millions of Britons if it is proven the tech company has in fact “choked” the batteries used in older models

A consumer champion has filed a £768million lawsuit against Apple alleging the tech giant deliberately slowed down batteries in iPhones.

Justin Gutmann, an activist who used to work for Citizens Advice, has accused the company of secretly slowing the performance of iPhone phones using a technique known as “throttling” and abusing its dominance in the market, he reports The times.

A court heard Apple mislead its users about an upgrade that actually caused batteries to slow down. Around 25 million UK users could be entitled to hundreds of pounds should Gutmann win his lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, which is pending June 16, legal experts will rule on the allegations that allegedly prevented 10 different models from masking overcharged batteries and avoiding costly recalls and repairs.

Gutmann claims Apple “misled customers about a power management tool that slows down devices, leading some users to upgrade early or pay for a spare battery.”

Gutmann’s lawyers have estimated that if successful, the lawsuit would result in UK consumers with select models being awarded between £30 and £60 each for substandard performance.

The claim relates to the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X models.

However, other users could be eligible for payouts in hundreds of cases if they can prove that they replaced batteries or the entire device itself due to the degradation in performance.

Gutmann’s legal team is expected to tell the court June 16 that analysis showed the devices slowed by up to 58 percent “after installation.” [a] Throttle software update”.

Apple has said that it “never — and never — has done anything to intentionally shorten the lifespan of an Apple product or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.”

In 2017, some users noticed performance issues and raised the issue with Apple, which apologized for addressing the issue and said it would replace batteries at a reduced price for a limited time and also introduce a feature for users to turn off power management can tool.

Apple has not commented on the new legal right.

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