Pomerantz Achieves Victory on Behalf of Apple iPhone 4s Owners

Pomerantz LLP achieved a significant victory on behalf of consumers in a case brought by iPhone 4s owners who downloaded Apple’s iOS 9 operating system onto their devices. On October 7, 2020, Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in Lerman v. Apple Inc., 15-cv-07381, (E.D.N.Y.).

The Court ruled that Plaintiffs met all the requirements for class certification under Rules 23(a) and 23(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and, therefore, certified classes for monetary relief on behalf of all iPhone 4s owners in New York and New Jersey who downloaded iOS 9 onto their devices from any version of iOS 7 or iOS 8.

Plaintiffs alleged in their complaint against Apple that iOS 9 harmed their iPhone 4s devices, causing their smartphones to be “slow and buggy,” and to run significantly more slowly than they did before Plaintiffs downloaded iOS 9. In addition, Plaintiffs alleged that Apple misrepresented iOS 9 by telling consumers that the software update would enhance the performance of their devices, while failing to disclose that the update would slow them down significantly

In support of their arguments that iOS 9 slowed down their devices, and that the resulting harm can be shown through common proof, Plaintiffs cited in their briefs abundant evidence from Apple’s own records and relied on the analysis of Plaintiffs’ experts, derived during more than two years of class-certification discovery.

Pomerantz Partner Michael Grunfeld, Counsel for the Class, stated, “This decision vindicates Plaintiffs’ strenuous efforts, since the initial filing of this case nearly five years ago, to seek redress for the harm that Apple caused them and other iPhone 4s owners by misleadingly providing a defective update for their devices. Now that a Class has been certified, Plaintiffs look forward to proceeding to the merits phase of this action.”