Apple accused of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones, faces $2 billion lawsuit in London

Apple Inc is fighting a $2 billion mass lawsuit in London. The US company is accused of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones by "throttling" them with software updates. The lawsuit has been filed by consumer champion Justin Gutmann on behalf of iPhone users in the United Kingdom.

According to a Reuters report, the tech giant is facing a lawsuit worth up to 1.6 billion pounds plus interest in the United Kindgom. 

According to the lawsuit court filings, Gutmann's lawyers argues that Apple concealed issues with batteries in certain phone models and "surreptitiously" installed a power management tool which limited performance.

Apple is calling the lawsuit as "baseless" and strongly denies its iPhones' batteries were defective, apart from in a small number of iPhone 6s models for which it offered free battery replacements.

The Cupertino-based company says that it introduced a power management updatein 2017 to manage demands on older batteries or with a low level of charge. The update, Apple says, only reduced an iPhone 6's performance by an average of 10%.

Gutmann on Tuesday asked London's Competition Appeal Tribunal to certify the case and allow it to proceed towards a trial.

His lawyer Philip Moser referred to Apple's 2020 agreements to settle a US class action and regulatory action by US states over iPhone battery issues as showing Apple was not "saying this never happened".

Apple had also committed to be "clearer and more upfront" with iPhone users about battery health to Britain's competition watchdog in 2019, Moser said.

The iPhone maker is denying the allegation that it has mislead its customers about iPhone battery issues. The company also points to a public apology it issued in 2017, offering cheaper battery replacements to affected customers.

Apple's lawyer David Wolfson said in court filings that the lawsuit effectively alleges that "not all batteries could deliver the peak power demanded in all circumstances at all times", which was common to all battery-powered devices.

(With inputs from Reuters)