iOS 4 crippled speeds on older hardware

A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit accusing Apple of intentionally crippling the iPhone 3G with iOS 4, according to mocoNews. A San Diego resident, Bianca Wofford, claimed in the case that after installing the iOS 4 upgrade, her 3G and others were turned into "iBricks" that ran incredibly slowly. While such complaints were indeed widespread in online forums and the media, Wofford made the additional assertion that Apple's motive was to push people into buying the iPhone 4.

Then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised a fix for the problem that was released a few weeks later, but Wofford wasn't content and filed a lawsuit seeking $5,000 for every Californian iPhone 3G owner whose device had been hampered by iOS 4. The judge in the case, Anthony Battaglia, has newly ruled that since iOS 4 was free, it doesn't amount to a "sale or lease" under the California Consumer Legal Remedy Act. "Here, the Plaintiffs’ original purchase of the iPhone is a separate transaction from their free upgrade of the iPhone’s operating system, which occurred about a year later," the judge's order reads. "The iPhone’s software upgrade was not intended to result in a 'sale or lease' because it was provided free of charge."

The judge also claims that iOS 4 doesn't qualify as a "good or service" under the law, and that other allegations of false advertising and deceptive business practices are invalid. Moreover, while an amended complaint can be submitted within 30 days, Battaglia's ruling states that Wofford was tied to a download licensing agreement and that a new claim would have to be legitimate outside of it.

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, troubleshooting, lawsuits, iPhone 3G, Apple, iOS, iOS 4