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Brazilian lawsuit accuses Apple of ‘planned obsolescence’ with rapid release of 4th-gen iPad

Thursday, February 21, 2013 · 1:32 pm · 36 Comments

“Brazil’s Jornal do Comérciao reports that the Brazilian Institute of Politics and Law Software (IBDI) has filed suit against the iPad maker, claiming that the company could have, when launching the third-generation ‘New iPad,’ implemented all of the technological upgrades it introduced in the fourth-generation model,” Kevin Bostic reports for AppleInsider. “Apple’s failure to do so, the suit alleges, amounts to planned obsolescence and unfair business practices.”

“‘Consumers thought [they were] buying high-end equipment,” said IBDI attorney Sergio Palomares, ‘not knowing [it] was already an obsolete version,’” Bostic reports. “If Apple is found guilty of unfair business practices, the company could be forced to compensate all Brazilian customers who bought the third-generation iPad.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: The Lightning connector was introduced during a special media event by Apple on September 12, 2012 on iPhone 5, iPod Touch (5th gen.), and the iPod Nano (7th gen.). Apple wasn’t ready — for marketing reasons, at least, and, perhaps, technical reasons, at most — to release it on just on iPad (3rd gen.) back on March 16, 2012. Lightning wasn’t added to iPad until October 2012 when iPad (4th gen.) and the iPad Mini debuted. This lawsuit is frivolous, without merit, and its claims unprovable.

Categories: News

Tags: Brazilian Institute of Politics and Law Software, IBDI, iPad, iPad (3rd gen.), iPad (4th gen), lawsuit, legal

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Comment Feed

36 Comments

Rorschach

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 1:39 pm · Reply

I have an iPad 3, that I bought when it was announced. It’s in no way obsolete, a different connector does not affect the usability of the previous model.
- Bizlaw
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 1:43 pm · Reply
  
  Hey! That must mean my iPad 2 is obsolete, because Apple “should have known” it was designing a new connector and didn’t tell me! Two years of enjoyment down the drain!
  
  Also, my original iPhone was OBVIOUSLY planned obsolescence, as Apple knew it would release the iPhone 3G just a year later, and improve the processor, size, weight, etc.
  
  And I want my money back for my clamshell orange iBook! Apple KNEW it would make the iBook slimmer, faster, metal, lose the optical drive, and change the name to MacBook Air! (however, Apple dropped the integrated handle, which was really cool).
  
  I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!! (Or I’ll take all new products for life as soon as they’re released).
  - Webmasters Apprentice
    
    Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:58 pm · Reply
    
    Really, you bought the Orange iBook?
    
    Orange? Really?!?!
bpondo

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 1:45 pm · Reply

What the fsk is going on? Is Apple being punked?

Who are these shitbergs that keep cooking up non-sensical lawsuits and how do they hold day jobs? This kind of nonsense has officially reach mind-boggling proportions.
- TowerTone
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:06 pm · Reply
  
  They are Socialist.
  - Shadowself
    
    Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:28 pm · Reply
    
    It has nothing to do with being Socialist, or Marxist, or Communist, or Capitalist, or any other common label you might throw at them. It has to do with being greedy and thinking they can get Apple to settle out of court for a quick cash payout.
  - gallowaycreations
    
    Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 5:46 pm · Reply
    
    Actually I think they’re just called lawyers.
Chris

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 1:46 pm · Reply

I almost wish Apple would release updates every week just to put an end to this perception. Buy the product when it suits your needs at a price you find agreeable. Keep it and enjoy it until it does not or until you find the accumulated upgrades compelling.
Eldernorm

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 1:46 pm · Reply

Sadly, way to many countries now believe they should act like greedy, stupid, and aggnorant people and sue for just any reason.

It’s becoming a very sad world.
JAT.
En
- LuskusDelph
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 1:55 pm · Reply
  
  You’re right.
  They’re beginning to act just like us Americans.
  That IS indeed sad.
  - GM
    
    Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 4:45 pm · Reply
    
    Speak for yourself. And don’t throw all the Americans under the bus with yourself. Just because you are a prick doesn’t mean that anyone else is. I’m proud to be an American. Fuck you! Move to Brazil you cock sucker! They deserve you.
    - Truth
      
      Friday, February 22, 2013 - 1:40 pm · Reply
      
      Did he strike a nerve Mr proud Faux-Patriot?
      
      Why is it you proud chest thumpers are immune to criticism?
      
      Why is it that when someone criticizes the US, your type’s immediate response is predictably: “don’t like it leave”? For a freedom loving patriot to say that seems, well.. STUPID.
      
      Your first step is admitting you have a problem… You have been conditioned to react aggressively to criticism of your country. This is a control mechanism designed to manipulate lemmings. A real freedom lover would reject this conditioning and be able to objectively look at the situation and see that criticism is in fact warranted.
- MEES
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:26 pm · Reply
  
  Eihorn isn’t helping things either, that greedy bastard!
- Crabapple
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 6:30 pm · Reply
  
  Remember when pc retailers sold pc’s that were out of date as soon as you walked out of the shop with it? They wouldn’t let you return it even though there was mechanical fault on it because as they would say, they will fix the fault but cannot swop it for a new one but if you bought extended warranty, then they will replace it for you if they could not fix it.
  
  WHY not retro sue them first before starting with Apple inc. of who’s supposedly outdated computers are working perfectly and will continue to do so even three generations later or until the owner chooses to upgrade. We all know who started taking customers seriously first so why try to punish them for it?
Dresden Sparrow

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:05 pm · Reply

It did seem shity when Apple upgraded the iPad so soon after the 4th gen so quickly after the 3rd. In the US these things are rather cheap, so not such a big deal. But in some other countries, buying such things is a less-frivolous more expensive decision.
Apple could take more care in this area.
- Jonathan
  
  Friday, February 22, 2013 - 10:04 am · Reply
  
  So car companies should stop coming out with new models every year due to planned obsolescence ? Apple just updated the MBPs with faster processors OH SHIT planned obsolescence . Shut up! If you have the iPad 3 then it still works and still gets updates it is far from obsolete.
- Truth
  
  Friday, February 22, 2013 - 2:27 pm · Reply
  
  Exactly how was it ‘shitty’? I happen to own the 3rd gen ‘the new ipad’ and I could care less about the fourth gen and lightning connector.
  
  I am still happy with my purchase, I use it every day. I received terrific value out of my purchase.
  
  The only way it ‘seems shitty’ is if you are one of those shallow types that wants the latest greatest gadget just because your unit is small and you need it to compensate.
  
  The truth is consumer electronics are continually updated and evolving. The moment you buy it the clock is ticking on when it will be upgraded. If you make an informed choice based upon your needs, you get the device you need, nothing ‘shitty’ about it.
R2

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:15 pm · Reply

Who the hell does Brazil think they are? That’s the last time I watch Fast Five. And it’ll be a cold day in hell before you see me Samba dancing again.
silverhawk1

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:22 pm · Reply

Start doing business with RIC countries and disregard the B.
- Jonas
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 3:30 pm · Reply
  
  RIC? Routine Infant Circumcision?
  
  http://tinyurl.com/b996wae
Shadowself

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:34 pm · Reply

And there is absolutely no difference between the A5X in the iPad 3 and the A6X in the iPad 4?

It is going to be truly impossible for these guys to prove that the A6X was available in quantity in March 2012. Thus their statement that “…the company could have, when launching the third-generation ‘New iPad,’ implemented all of the technological upgrades it introduced in the fourth-generation model…” is 100% false.

This lawsuit should be thrown out during the first hearing. Unfortunately for Apple, it very likely won’t be.
Derek Currie

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:39 pm · Reply

Brazil: You haven’t got a CLUE what ‘planned obsolescence’ actually MEANS, semantically or physically.

Isn’t it odd to see Brazil acting all entitled as opposed to more spoiled rotten First World countries? Unusual.
- Derek Currie
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:42 pm · Reply
  
  Maybe Brazil just wants to get in on the sucking of cash out of the big money bag Apple game, much like the recent irrational gutting of AAPL.
  
  Damn! What a sick age!
- Sucker
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:47 pm · Reply
  
  For that they should sue Microsoft/Nokia for those Lumia phones that only ran Windows Mobile 7.5 and couldn’t be updated.
  - Derek Currie
    
    Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 2:50 pm · Reply
    
    Or how about the multitude of Android devices that are incapable of being upgraded to any other version of the OS?
    
    Damn! What a sick age.
emmayche

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 3:02 pm · Reply

There’s an easy way to tell if a piece of computer equipment is obsolete.

If you can buy it, it’s obsolete.
- gaz
  
  Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 5:28 pm · Reply
  
  Once I’ve read from some technological dude: Everything you have is obsolete.
ivid

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 3:41 pm · Reply

Lets see….iPad1 no longer supported by latest iOS version a mere 18 months after its EOL’d and replaced by iPad 2.
No, no planned obsolescence there.
Signed, a bitter iPad owner
- Truth
  
  Friday, February 22, 2013 - 2:34 pm · Reply
  
  Any seasoned buyer would tell you that you are taking a risk buying a generation one gadget.
  
  Apple has also been pretty consistent about ANNUAL updates to it’s IOS family of devices.
  
  Apple has also been consistent about pushing tech forward and not hobbling updates for the sake of supporting old hardware. (they do better than most in this regard. IMO)
  
  time to upgrade….
Now, Now...

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 3:50 pm · Reply

I guess my sister was ‘planned obsolescence’ as I came shortly after her!

Hmmm… That makes sense. The better version.
tbone

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 3:54 pm · Reply

Great to see such experts son Brazilian law. I was getting worried there.
leodavinci1

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 4:06 pm · Reply

Isn’t Apple building an iPad assembly plant in Brazil? If so, then this is the kind of thing that should give them pause.

“Planned obsolescence”… now there’s an oxymoron.

The only way to avoid “planned obsolescence” is to built something that can’t be improved on. That’s probably not possible.

Technological progress makes obsolescence an inherent part of everything that is manufactured. Whether it’s “planned” or not is a meaningless distinction.
sarasota

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 4:09 pm · Reply

Seems like there is a new Android phone released every six weeks. How come I can’t sue because a 2 month old Android phone has been supplanted with an upgrade?
Hiram

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 9:35 pm · Reply

Anyway to check if this is really a lawsuit, or just another BS negative Apple story?
iRiyaz

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 9:56 pm · Reply

@ri_az: If u r bored, even with social media, there’s a new thing ToDo:”You could File a case against Apple Inc” like Claim:”Steve died without prior warning” or “the apple you bought at groceries surface does not react to touch” or that “Original iPhone back 2008 could have come with aluminum body”….
bigbubbadude

Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 11:56 pm · Reply

So I suppose Apple should STOP innovating and not release new tech when it becomes available… ahh ok, deliberately withhold what’s new so people can brag they have the latest model for a longer period of time… right….. What a dumb idea for a whiny but lawsuit. “Ladies and Gentlemen. . . . We just invented a cure for cancer, but since many of you bought the latest cancer drug we produced last month, it will upset you too much to see us reveal the cure. Therefore we will NOT release the drug and let some people die so a few of you don’t feel bad…. “