Apple hit by 16GB iPhone storage "false advertising" claims

Apple is being sued by users who've taken issue with the consumer electronic giant's claims about storage space on the 16GB iPhone in the wake of theiOS 8 update.

The Miami residents filed the lawsuit last week, according to CNN Wire, and are reportedly seeking $5 million in damages because the 16GB iPhone 6 doesn't offer 16GB of storage space, as advertised.

In fact, around 3GB of that storage is occupied by the new iOS 8 update, which amounts to 19 per cent of what Apple is promising users. This results in customers being duped into buying Apple products without the accurate information to aid them in the decision making process, the plaintiffs say.

In the complaint, they said: "Apple's misrepresentations and omissions are deceptive and misleading because they omit material facts that an average consumer would consider in deciding whether to purchase its products."

They continue on to say this could be perceived as part of a plan by the company to encourage users to store files and photos in the iCloud rather than on their device.

"Apple exploits the discrepancy between represented and available capacity for its own gain by offering to sell, and by selling, cloud storage capacity to purchasers whose internal storage capacity is at or near exhaustion."

Caroline Preece

Caroline has been writing about technology for more than a decade, switching between consumer smart home news and reviews and in-depth B2B industry coverage. In addition to her work for IT Pro and Cloud Pro, she has contributed to a number of titles including Expert Reviews, TechRadar, The Week and many more. She is currently the smart home editor across Future Publishing's homes titles.

You can get in touch with Caroline via email at caroline.preece@futurenet.com.