Every Apple Watch that Apple has made is defective. At least, that’s the argument made by a new class action lawsuit, asking Apple to pay $5 million in damages for refusing to acknowledge an issue which affects its wearable devices.
According to Kenneth Sciacca of Colorado, who filed the suit, Apple Watches contain a flaw “which causes the screens … to crack, shatter, or detach from the body of the Watch, through no fault of the wearer, oftentimes only days or weeks after purchase.”
The lawsuit alleges that Apple knew that the Apple Watches were defective at or before the time they started selling them to the public. Meanwhile, the supposed defect has continued through the original, Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Watches.
“Since 2015, Apple has sold millions of Watches with the defect throughout the United States, and either knew, or should have known, that the Watches contain the defect and are not fit for their intended purpose,” the suit claims. “Nonetheless, Apple has actively concealed and failed to disclose the Defect to Plaintiff and Class members prior to, at, or after the time of purchase.”
Apple hasn’t acknowledged the ‘defect’
Apple has not acknowledged any complaint along these lines, although in April 2018 it did recognize a swelling battery defect in certain Series 2 Watches. As a result, it extended its limited warranty for qualifying Series 0 Watches from one year to three years. This is mentioned in the lawsuit, potentially since a cracked screen could theoretically be one result of a swollen battery.
I can’t say that this is a complaint I have personally had with the Apple Watch. It would also seem unusual for Apple not to take steps to improve the design of the Apple Watch after its first-gen model if it recognized this as an issue.
Still, it will be interesting to see how this case plays out. For Apple’s sake, it had better hope that it wins. While it hasn’t released exact sales figures for the Apple Watch, if every customer starts asking for big payouts due to a design fault that would be painful even for a company the size of Apple!
Have you experienced this particular issue? Do you know of anyone who has? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Patently Apple
