A California woman is suing Apple because she claims that iOS 4 makes older versions of the iPhone unusable. She claims that the “iBrick” upgrade forces people to buy the iPhone 4.
The woman, who I’m not going to name because it doesn’t really matter, is seeking a class-action status because of the woes that older iPhones have with the iOS upgrade. We’ve seen first-hand how the new software can turn older versions of the phone into an iBrick.
She is claiming this was a deliberate move by Apple to get users to upgrade.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes that this whole situation was created to be consumer Catch-22 by Apple in order for the company to promote sales of its just released iPhone 4 and to cause consumers to simply abandon the earlier 3G and 3GS platforms,” the suit said (thanks Computerworld. “After all, what better way to underhandedly create incentive to purchase a newer product than by essentially rendering an earlier product useless by the false promise of a software ‘upgrade.’ ”
We’ll watch this iBrick lawsuit and see if it gains any traction but it really brings up an interesting question: how long should handset makers support its legacy harware?
Some would say that Apple has already given iPhone 3G owners enough love, as it supported and upgraded the handset for about two years with new features. At a certain point, you have to cut the line in order to move your platform. Microsoft didn’t do that with Windows Mobile until Windows Phone 7 and it has been paying the price.
I’m not too bullish on the prospects of the iBrick lawsuit, as two years is about the average length of time most people hold on to their device. I do think it’s a shame that iOS 4 didn’t work well with the iPhone 3G though – I would have preferred Apple had some stones and didn’t even offer it all to those users.
[Via Computerworld]