Apple hit with class-action lawsuit over iPhone 6/6 Plus “Touch Disease”
Apple is in a legal mess once again and this time they are being sued by owners of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones. According to the complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for Northern California, a design defect is rending the smartphones’ touchscreens unresponsive, making them unusable. What is even worse that since many of these devices do not fall under warranty period, Apple is refusing to fix them.
“Many other iPhone owners have communicated with Apple’s employees and agents to request that Apple remedy and/or address the Touchscreen Defect and/or resultant damage at no expense. Apple has failed and/or refused to do so,” part of the complaint reads.
Codenamed online last week as ‘Touch Disease’ by iFixit, Jason Villner of STS Telecom says that the “issue is widespread enough that I feel like almost every iPhone 6/6+ has a touch of it (no pun intended) and are like ticking bombs just waiting to act up.” iFixit sells repair parts and has in the past examined other Apple products.
It appears that Apple has long been aware of the defect, which often comes up after a flickering grey bar appears over the touchscreens, according to a proposed nationwide class-action lawsuit filed on Saturday.
Apple’s decision not to use a metal “shield” or “underfill” to guard the relevant parts, as it did on versions of the iPhone 5, has been linked to the problem by the plaintiffs.
“The iPhones are not fit for the purpose of use as smartphones because of the touchscreen defect,” according to the complaint filed in federal court in San Jose, California.
Currently, the listed plaintiffs include Todd Cleary of California, Thomas Davidson of Pennsylvania, and Jun Bai of Delaware and are being represented by the law firm McCuneWright. They are accusing the firm of fraud and violating California’s consumer protection laws. The damages that the plaintiffs are seeking are unspecified.
