A class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court accuses Apple of shutting iPhone Upgrade Program customers out of getting an iPhone 7 on the day it launches. The suit, filed on behalf of Emil Frank, claims Apple knowingly “allowed non-Upgrade Program users to snap up the limited inventory of the new devices while telling countless iPhone Upgrade Program customers to ‘check back later.’” Many program members learned for the first time last week that their upgrade process requires making reservations at a local Apple Store, where inventories are generally more constrained, as opposed to placing a normal pre-order through the online Apple Store.
The attorneys said Apple should be held accountable for misleading marketing of the iPhone Upgrade Program, forced to reimburse customers for payments they’re making on their 2015 iPhones while they wait for an iPhone 7, and should allow “aggrieved consumers” to give back their iPhone and opt out of the Update Program with no further obligations. Apple hasn’t publicly responded to the lawsuit or the uproar over members wondering what the value of the Update Program is if they can’t get a new iPhone the day it comes out. [via Apple Insider]