Apple sued for blocking Upgrade Program members from pre-ordering the iPhone 7

By Christian de Looper Published September 15, 2016

iphone 7 q3 sales — Image used with permission by copyright holder

it looks like Apple has a another rendezvous scheduled with its old friend the courthouse. The company has been sued, this time for blocking members of its iPhone Upgrade Program from pre-ordering the new iPhone 7.

The suit accuses Apple of misleading members of the iPhone Upgrade Program, which tend to be the biggest Apple fans. It’s important to note that the fine print for the Apple Upgrade Program does say that Apple “reserves the right to refuse or limit the quantity of any device for any reason,” according to a report from ZDNet.

Recommended Videos

Apple is exercising that right in pre-orders of the iPhone 7, allowing non-members of the program to upgrade right away, while not allowing members to upgrade through the program. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Upgrade Program customers won’t be able to upgrade at all. The complaint notes that Emil Frank was unable to upgrade from the 64GB iPhone 6s to the black or jet black iPhone 7 in either 128GB or 256GB, and that he won’t be eligible to do so until November.

“While scores of customers signed up for the program and were ready to take advantage of the every-year upgrade with the release of the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on September 9, 2016, Apple had a different plan in mind,” notes the complaint. “It allowed non-iPhone Upgrade Program customers to snap up the limited inventory of the new devices while telling countless iPhone Upgrade Program customers to ‘check back later.'”

So what is the plaintiff seeking? The complaint is essentially asking Apple to give reimbursements to customers of the Upgrade Program who made payments in 2015 while waiting for the new iPhone. It also wants Apple to stop restricting the number of units available to members of the program, and is asking that Apple ensure that customers still get access to the 2017 iPhone when it’s launched next September.

Topics

Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Mobile

It’s the end of the road for these two iPhone models

Apple iPhone 6S Plus

Seeing your favorite handheld gaming device in a retro store has a unique way of making you feel old, but Apple might have topped it. According to the company, the iPhone XS Max and iPhone 6s Plus are now "vintage." They join the ranks of the iPhone 4 and even the iPad Pro 12.9-inch model.

It's not wholly unexpected. Apple declares a device vintage after five years, and that means it becomes more difficult to have that device repaired or to find replacement parts for it. Obsolete is applied to products that are more than seven years old, but sometimes certain variants get that label early.

Computing

Google Gemini arrives on iPhone as a native app

the Google extensions feature on iPhone

Google announced Thursday that it has released a new native Gemini app for iOS that will give iPhone users free, direct access to the chatbot without the need for a mobile web browser.

The Gemini mobile app has been available for Android since February, when the platform transitioned from the older Bard branding. However, iOS users could only access the AI on their phones through either the mobile Google app or via a web browser. This new app provides a more streamlined means of chatting with the bot as well as a host of new (to iOS) features.

Mobile

A must-try Android app has finally arrived on the iPhone

Person holding a phone with Google Gemini Live being shown.

A few days ago, Google Gemini appeared in the Apple App Store for a user in the Philippines, who was even able to download it. We took it as a sign that the new AI assistant would soon make its way to the App Store in the U.S. Well, we were right, as you can now download Gemini as a standalone app on your iPhone, after previously only being able to access it through a browser.

The Gemini app is free to download and has a surprising number of features available. More powerful functions are available for a $20-per-month subscription, but you can try Gemini Advanced out for one month for free. It grants priority access to new features and gives a "1 million token" context window.