On July 11, 2008, Apple released the new 3G iPhone. In the weeks leading up to the launch date, the Net and the airwaves were so saturated with ads that one might not be surprised to hear her co-worker slowly chanting Apple’s 3G iPhone mantra: “Twice as Fast at Half the Price.” As with so many bold statements about technological advances, the hype was overzealous in its claims about increased speeds over the 3G network. Less than a month after the new iPhone’s release, customers were complaining of poor coverage and speeds on the 3G network. Now, barely two months after the 3G iPhone’s debut, complaints from consumers have spawned complaints in federal courts.
Three Lawsuits over 3G
On August 20, 2008, Ars Technica reported that a suit had been filed against Apple in federal court in Alabama. The plaintiff Jessica Smith alleges in her complaint (.pdf) that the 3G iPhone is “defective” and that Apple has violated both express and implied warranties, pointing specifically at the abovementioned claims in Apple’s ads. As one might expect, Smith filed the complaint as a class action, hoping to define the class as “All persons in the United States who purchased a Defective iPhone 3G.”
On September 4, 2008, Ars Technica reported that a second suit had been filed in federal court in California by recent iPhone purchaser William R. Gillis, Jr. While reiterating many of the allegations in Smith’s preceding suit, Gillis’ complaint goes on to include AT&T, the iPhone’s sole service provider, as a party to the suit. Gillis alleges that AT&T’s network was ill-equipped to handle the massive increase in bandwidth consumption due to Apple’s aggressive sales campaign.
On September 5, 2008, Ars Technica reported that a third class-action had been filed in federal court in New Jersey alleging the same essential elements as Smith’s original suit. That suit, filed by Eulardi Tanseco, further alleges that Apple’s then-most recent update to the iPhone 3G, version 2.0.2, which was released just days before Smith’s suit, had no effect on the iPhone’s performance.
Version 2.1 to the Rescue?
On September 12, 2008, Apple released their newest update to the iPhone, version 2.1. While this release squarely address one of the centerpiece allegations of the three suits, frequently dropped calls, the release notes only address problems with the 3G network in terms of increasing the accuracy of the 3G “signal strength display.” It seems unlikely then that 2.1 will have much effect on these three lawsuits, as their primary focus is on problems with 3G connectivity.
The Sound of Settling
Still, it is hard to imagine that Apple, the seemingly insurmountable juggernaut of making technology cool, is worried by a few lawsuits about problems with the iPhone. All new technological products have their bugs, right? Well, these suits might actually have some legal teeth.
On August 27, 2008, the UK-based paper TimesOnline reported that the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) determined that Apple’s ads for the iPhone, claiming the device could access “all parts of the internet,” had to be pulled from the air. The iPhone, which does not support Flash or Java, could not access “all parts” of the web in the ASA’a estimation. One might think that Apple would be worried about an American court adopting the same hard, literal interpretation of Apple’s claims about 3G speeds and deciding to take Apple to task. In the end though, these suits will likely settle, and the legal arguments will only come into play for determining how many free songs from iTunes Apple will have to dish out.
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