California appeals court revives lawsuit accusing Apple of blocking iPhone repairs

Filed 5d ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Paulshannon at English Wikipedia · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

A California appeals panel revived a lawsuit accusing Apple of inflating iPhone repair costs by withholding parts, tools, and manuals from independent shops, reversing a trial court that had tossed the case for lack of standing.

Plaintiffs Jesse Granato and Janice Zarad say an Apple employee told them third-party repairs would void their warranty, pushing them toward pricier authorized service in 2021. Justice Cynthia Lie wrote that their allegations plausibly connect Apple's restrictive practices to market-wide inflated pricing.

The court also found that California's 2024 Right to Repair Act, though passed after the suit was filed, reinforces that the underlying conduct was unfair even beforehand. The case now returns to Santa Clara Superior Court, where Apple has not been found liable at this stage.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Nothing says confidence in your repair pricing quite like allegedly telling customers a warranty vanishes the moment they walk into a cheaper shop. The court isn't ruling Apple guilty yet, just noting that ‘trust us, it's for security’ is not, on its own, a business model immune from unfair competition law.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Circus Waltz · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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