14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is once again thrown in a legal battle, as the company is now accused of blocking old iPhone chargers in an attempt to force customers to buy new ones.
Because every sold charger means money and money means business stability in the long term, the lawsuit says Apple did the whole thing on purpose back in October 2017 with an iOS software update.
While there’s no indication as to what update allegedly blocked old chargers, Apple rolled out three different iOS updates in October 2017, namely iOS 11.02 on October 3, iOS 11.0.3 on October 11, and iOS 11.1 on October 31.
Apple sued for unfair business practices and fraud
California resident Monica Emerson, who started the class-action lawsuit, explains in court documents that after installing the iOS update, her iPhone 7 began rejecting power adapters, with an error displayed on the screen when plugging it in.
“In or around October 2017, Plaintiff attempted to use her Apple Charger and received a message that read "This accessory may not be supported." Thus, requiring that people buy a new charger for her iPhone. Upon learning this, Plaintiff felt ripped off, cheated, and violated by Defendant,” the court documents read according to a report from MacRumors.
Emerson thinks Apple should pay more than $5 million in damages, pointing out that she always used genuine chargers sold by the Cupertino-based tech giant.
Apple blocking third-party cables and chargers isn’t something new, but the company typically does that to prevent accessories that are not certified to be used with its devices in order to prevent potential damage.
It remains to be seen if the customer has any chance in court against Apple in this case, but Cupertino has remained completely tight-lipped for now, as per the company’s typical approach when involved in legal disputes.