that's right what you read in the title. In just 5 days, more than 130,000 Chileans gathered in a press conference against Apple. According to the Chilean Consumers and Users Organization, this is a record number for similar actions in the country.
But what exactly did Apple do to piss off so many people? Such a scheduled obsolescence, so much discussed today. In the case of Apple, something directly related to the company's attitude of decreasing the processing power in devices with a worn / old battery.
The lawsuit in question accuses Apple of deliberately causing the batteries in iPhones to lose efficiency after a few years of use. According to the complainants, the company would do this to force users to exchange their devices for newer models. They then request that Apple repair all affected phones or, if that is too costly, buy back the devices at market value. In addition, they demand a fine equivalent to US $ 193 for each user who purchased one of the affected models (iPhones 5c, 6, 6s and 7, purchased between 2014 and 2017) in order to compensate for the “wasted time they had with the devices ”.
"The participation of such a large number of people in these initiatives demonstrates the level of indignation of customers for having been deceived by Apple, which fraudulently introduces and programs flaws in its cell phone equipment," said lawyer Juan Sebastan Reyes, who works in action . The president of the organization leading the process, Stefan Larenas, said he had received requests for help from consumer organizations in other countries like Argentina, Brazil, Panam and Peru. He also said that he is coordinating with other organizations a demand covering the whole of Latin America, in order to give more force to the case, and foresees an avalanche of similar episodes being opened by the world.
This is not the first legal battle that Apple faces related to battery polemics. Several lawsuits were filed (1, 2, 3) against the company after the matter won the media; in Italy, she was fined R $ 43 million for the episode; in addition, several government agencies asked for explanations about the political attitude.
In a recent document sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it had made an estimate of how much to spend with these cases and created a contingency fund (that is, it left the money already separate) to make payments depending on the results of the processes the exact amount, however, was not specified. Still, the company said that the devices are not defective and that these features are designed to improve the customer experience.
As we know, throughout 2018 Apple made battery changes at prices below the normal table as a way to get around the problem. In total, it replaced 11 million batteries, a number far above the repairs carried out in 2017 (between 1-2 million).
tip of Raimundo Torres, via UOL Technology and Business Insider
