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Apple are currently facing a class action for selling known-faulty iPhone 4S/5 hardware in which they're accused of deceptive or fraudulent business practices.

Apple are currently facing a class action for selling known-faulty iPhone 4S/5 hardware in which they're accused of deceptive or fraudulent business practices. Now they do that across multiple product lines, multiple generations... https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/24/iphone-4-4s-5-power-button-defect-trial/ https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/24/iphone-4-4s-5-power-but...

scarface74 8y ago
I don’t pay much credence to every random class action suit. They can even be forgiven for having a systemic hardware issue that only becomes apparent once you have millions of devices out there. The keyboard issue is different. They knew they had an issue when they released the 12” MacBook but they kept introducing new models with the same issue. They could have easily just done a speed bump and kept the 2015 design. No one was clamoring for USB C or the Touch Bar. Even though I think AntennaGate was overblown and they did keep selling the GSM iPhone 4 with no changes, they did make changes to the design nine months later for the CDMA iPhone 4.
- benologist 8y ago
  It's not a random class action, it's about three generations of iPhones with power button issues that Apple sold whilst knowing they were faulty, eventually relying on a free repair program to fix them instead of solving the problem prior to sale.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    If the repair program was free? Where is the harm?
    - RandomBacon 8y ago
      The hassle for most people is real. A magic fairy doesn't instantly swap out the defective phone with a good one (and transfer all the files) the instant the problem occurs. Some people are in countries with no Apple stores, some people are using it as a camera on a week-long backpacking trip in the middle of nowhere. Some people have families and jobs they have to tend to and don't want to waste what little precious freetime they have on this BS, etc. Edit: and not everyone in the U.S. who has free time, lives near an Apple Store or can get an appointment next day. I used to not have responsibilities, and I wondered why everyone has a hard time with things. Now I have responsibilities and can see why.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        Seeing that the class action suit is only in the US, where does the rest of the world come in? As far as swapping out files. It literally is a matter of clicking “backup” on one phone and choosing to restore on another one.
        RandomBacon 8y ago
        > It literally is a matter of clicking “backup” on one phone and choosing to restore on another one. No. It is not. Please tap "backup" on my dead phone. Please tap "backup" on my working phone when I have no computer or Internet to back it up to.
        scarface74 8y ago
        The phone would have been backed up by default the last time it was plugged in. I’m just saying as one last sanity check, I would be backing up the phone. But in the case of the home button. The phone wasn’t “dead”.
        RandomBacon 8y ago
        > the last time it was plugged in. The last time it was plugged into a wall outlet, in an area with no Internet coverage? Or what about that irreplaceable photo I just took since the last time I plugged it into my computer, that I need right now and can't access until my phone is fixed? Now we're just nitpicking each other. Hopefully you can at least see that they aren't magical devices that will solve everyone's problems. They do break, and like with any device that breaks, it can be a real inconvience for its user.
        scarface74 8y ago
        The phone didn’t die in an area with no coverage in this case - the homr button did. Are you saying that at no point between the time that the home button failed and you took it in to get it serviced/replaced that the hypothetical person couldn’t get internet access?
    - muro 8y ago
      - you need to go and get it repaired, costing you time and effort - it's usually time limited
  - chipotle_coyote 8y ago
    I've been following Apple for years and don't recall widespread reports of what I'm sure would have gleefully reported in the press as "Buttongate"; that some home buttons failed prematurely isn't in and of itself a convincing argument for Apple's active malevolence, given that we're talking about, what, ~200M units? In those numbers, 99.99% of the switches could have no problems at all and there would still literally be tens of thousands of failures. Maybe Apple shipped faulty switches knowingly. But they're also an awfully big juicy target for less scrupulous lawyers.

scarface74 8y ago

I don’t pay much credence to every random class action suit. They can even be forgiven for having a systemic hardware issue that only becomes apparent once you have millions of devices out there. The keyboard issue is different. They knew they had an issue when they released the 12” MacBook but they kept introducing new models with the same issue. They could have easily just done a speed bump and kept the 2015 design. No one was clamoring for USB C or the Touch Bar. Even though I think AntennaGate was overblown and they did keep selling the GSM iPhone 4 with no changes, they did make changes to the design nine months later for the CDMA iPhone 4.

benologist 8y ago
It's not a random class action, it's about three generations of iPhones with power button issues that Apple sold whilst knowing they were faulty, eventually relying on a free repair program to fix them instead of solving the problem prior to sale.
- scarface74 8y ago
  If the repair program was free? Where is the harm?
  - RandomBacon 8y ago
    The hassle for most people is real. A magic fairy doesn't instantly swap out the defective phone with a good one (and transfer all the files) the instant the problem occurs. Some people are in countries with no Apple stores, some people are using it as a camera on a week-long backpacking trip in the middle of nowhere. Some people have families and jobs they have to tend to and don't want to waste what little precious freetime they have on this BS, etc. Edit: and not everyone in the U.S. who has free time, lives near an Apple Store or can get an appointment next day. I used to not have responsibilities, and I wondered why everyone has a hard time with things. Now I have responsibilities and can see why.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Seeing that the class action suit is only in the US, where does the rest of the world come in? As far as swapping out files. It literally is a matter of clicking “backup” on one phone and choosing to restore on another one.
      - RandomBacon 8y ago
        > It literally is a matter of clicking “backup” on one phone and choosing to restore on another one. No. It is not. Please tap "backup" on my dead phone. Please tap "backup" on my working phone when I have no computer or Internet to back it up to.
        scarface74 8y ago
        The phone would have been backed up by default the last time it was plugged in. I’m just saying as one last sanity check, I would be backing up the phone. But in the case of the home button. The phone wasn’t “dead”.
        RandomBacon 8y ago
        > the last time it was plugged in. The last time it was plugged into a wall outlet, in an area with no Internet coverage? Or what about that irreplaceable photo I just took since the last time I plugged it into my computer, that I need right now and can't access until my phone is fixed? Now we're just nitpicking each other. Hopefully you can at least see that they aren't magical devices that will solve everyone's problems. They do break, and like with any device that breaks, it can be a real inconvience for its user.
        scarface74 8y ago
        The phone didn’t die in an area with no coverage in this case - the homr button did. Are you saying that at no point between the time that the home button failed and you took it in to get it serviced/replaced that the hypothetical person couldn’t get internet access?
  - muro 8y ago
    - you need to go and get it repaired, costing you time and effort - it's usually time limited
- chipotle_coyote 8y ago
  I've been following Apple for years and don't recall widespread reports of what I'm sure would have gleefully reported in the press as "Buttongate"; that some home buttons failed prematurely isn't in and of itself a convincing argument for Apple's active malevolence, given that we're talking about, what, ~200M units? In those numbers, 99.99% of the switches could have no problems at all and there would still literally be tens of thousands of failures. Maybe Apple shipped faulty switches knowingly. But they're also an awfully big juicy target for less scrupulous lawyers.