Apple Inc has been sued by owners of iPhone 6 and
iPhone 6 Plus smartphones who say a design defect causes the
phones' touchscreens to become unresponsive, making them
unusable.
According to a proposed nationwide class-action lawsuit
filed on Saturday, Apple has long been aware of the defect, which
often surfaces after a flickering gray bar appears atop the
touchscreens, but has refused to fix it.
The plaintiffs linked the problem to Apple's decision
not to use a metal "shield" or "underfill" to protect the relevant
parts, as it did on versions of the iPhone 5.
"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.
Todd Cleary of California, Jun Bai of Delaware and
Thomas Davidson of Pennsylvania are the named plaintiffs in the
lawsuit, which accuses Apple of fraud and violating California
consumer protection laws. They seek unspecified damages.
Apple did not immediately respond on Monday to a
request for comment.
Problems with iPhone 6 touchscreens were described
online last week by iFixit, which labelled the issue "Touch
Disease." That company sells repair parts and has previously
analysed other Apple products.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, sold 166.4
million iPhones, generating $108.5 billion (S$147.6 billion) of net
sales, in the first nine months of its current fiscal year.
ST