Italy Sues Apple $73 Million USD Over Alleged iPhone Planned Obsolescence

Altroconsumo, an Italian consumer association, filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple, reports Reuters. The consumer association claims the Cupertino company intentionally built its iPhone models to have a limited lifespan to force people to upgrade.

Altroconsumo is asking for up to 60 million euros (USD 73 million) in damages for Italian consumers. These affected consumers supposedly were duped by Apple into believing their phones would function at maximum performance longer.

Instead, Apple allegedly intentionally shortened the lifespan of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 6s Plus. The lawsuit covers almost one million iPhone units purchased in Italy between 2014 and 2020.

Apple is facing similar class-action lawsuits in Belgium and Spain that allege the company intentionally crippled its iPhones. The European consumer association “Euroconsumers” is coordinating all three cases. The consumer association plans to expand this lawsuit to Portugal in the next few weeks.

Apple denies these allegations, claiming it has never done anything to intentionally shorten the lifespan of its iOS devices. It also refutes any claims it deliberately degraded the user experiences to compel people to upgrade their devices.

This isn’t the first accusation that Apple intentionally degraded the user experience. The company has faced criticism for its handling of batterygate, in which it deliberately throttled older iOS devices to prevent unexpected shutdowns. Apple claims this intentional throttling was done to enhance the user experience and not force people to upgrade their phones.