I hope that the desks at Apple’s lawyers ’houses are large because, even in the midst of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, processes directed at Apple – and the paperwork that comes from them – keep coming up.
Today, we will talk about three new cases.
MacBooks Pro screens
To start, Apple received another lawsuit due to the defect presented on the screens of some units in the MacBook Pro (model 2016), known as “Flexgate” – the failure, as described here, is caused by a partial break in the flex cable connecting the logic board to the panel, which affects the component’s backlight and causes an irregular “stage lighting” effect, so to speak.
The class action lawsuit, filed in the Northern California District Court, says that Apple, in trying to create the thinnest machines possible, has deliberately developed a “defective nature” in them – forcing consumers, in this way, to pay for repairs months or years after purchasing the computers. According to the claimant, Mahan Taleshpour, Apple knew about the problem and did not communicate it to buyers of the machine.
It is worth noting that Apple started a free repair program for MacBooks Pro affected by the defect, but covering only 13 inch models – Taleshpour, in turn, has a 15 inch laptop affected by the failure. He asks for payment of damages and demands that Apple expand the AppleCare repair program for the larger models of the MacBook Pro.
More piracy
Who follows the MacMagazine you have certainly read some news about the accusation, made by representatives of three composers from the United States, that Apple was collaborating with distributors in the sale and streaming of versions pirated of your music. For recently, another process of this type has been moved.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern California District Court, comes from representatives of the same composers: Harold Arlen (in “Over The Rainbow”) and Ray Henderson, in addition to the agency Four Jays Music. The difference is that, this time, it focuses on other distributors – specifically, the Ideal Music and the Genepool Distribution, which, according to the claimants, have sold or made available versions of their compositions without passing on the royalties their families or the holders of such rights.
As in other cases, the composers’ representatives claim that Apple is an accomplice in the crime of piracy, having knowledge of the actions and allowing the marketing of the songs on the iTunes Store and Apple Music. Claimants claim damages and legal expenses.
Signal problems on iPhone XR
Another lawsuit that is not exactly new to Apple: last month, we had already talked about a class action lawsuit filed against the company over alleged signal problems in the iPhone XR – or, more precisely, the company’s decision to equip the device with antennas MIMO 2 × 2, instead of the more advanced components MIMO 4 × 4 of the most expensive iPhones.
It happened again: a new lawsuit was filed in the Northern California District Court – this one, specifically naming 13 iPhone XR buyers and involving all other users affected by the problem. The complainants claim that Apple “has disregarded the explicit and implicit guarantees” of the device, citing frequent problems with signal reception due to the antennas.
According to the plaintiffs, Apple illegally profited by selling substandard technology, as it did not inform consumers about the issue and forced them to exchange their devices or resort to alternative solutions. The claimants are asking for payment of damages, legal expenses and a court order so that Apple “is prevented from carrying out more misleading and unfair business practices”.
via AppleInsider [1, 2, 3]
