James Delahunty
31 Jul 2007 18:31
A questionable lawsuit has been filed against Apple Inc. by Larry Drury, an Illinois lawyer, on behalf of Jose Trujillo, alleging that the company defrauded Trujillo by failing to reveal details about the iPhone battery. Drury claims that Apple failed to reveal that the iPhone battery was not user-replaceable and that it would die after 300 charges. To get a new battery for an iPhone, you have to send it back to Apple at a cost of $85.95.
"This case arises out of Defendants' purposeful and fraudulent concealment to purchasers of its iPhone cellular telephone that they will be required to incur an annual fee of $85.95 as part of Defendants' battery replacement program," the complaint reads. It goes on to say that, "the iPhone battery has a durability and/or lifetime of approximately 300 charges, necessitating frequent and more than annual maintenance, repair, and/or replacement if charged regularly on a daily basis."
When the iPhone launched, Apple said that the battery would start to "lose capacity" after about 300 or 400 charges. However, the company is referring to charge cycles, which is basically a completely drained battery then charged up fully. Apple defines proper maintenance as "at least one charge cycle per month." Also, the battery won't be completely useless after 400 charges. Apple's website says that the battery will retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 400 full charge and discharge cycles.
The one year warranty covering the iPhone (can be extended to two years for $69) entitles the owner to a free replacement battery if it drops below 50% capacity too.
Source:
News.com