Apple’s Refusal To Acknowledge Apple Watch Defects Stirs Up Class Action Lawsuit

A new class action lawsuit was recently filed against Apple. The suit claims the Cupertino giant’s smartwatch has several defects and flaws that tend to manifest days or weeks after the device is purchased.

Patently Apple learned Wednesday about the class action that Kenneth Sciacca of Colorado filed against the tech giant on June 4 in San Jose California. The plaintiff alleges that every edition of the Apple Watch has the same defects and or flaws that cause their screens to crack, shatter or even detach from the body of the timepiece.

The lawsuit indicates that Sciacca is bringing the action not only as an individual, but also as part of a proposed class, which refers to former owners of any Apple Watch generation — from the first one (Series 0) to the latest generation (Series 3) — bought in the United States.

The plaintiff claims that the defects of the Apple Watch devices surface even when the wearer is not at fault. Moreover, the flaws are said to become apparent just days or weeks after the devices are bought.

As claimed in the suit, Apple allegedly knew about the defects because consumers who purchased the first-generation smartwatch complained about such issues back when Series 0 was released in April 2015.

Apple has vehemently denied the defects and problems with its first Apple Watch until early last year. In April 2017, Samsung’s biggest rival acknowledged that the first-generation smartwatch has a swelling battery issue. At the time, Apple extended the Limited Warranty for qualified first-generation Apple Watch devices from just one year to three years.

Tim Cook’s company did the same thing with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watch devices. The company denied the defects, but issued a retraction in April 2018, saying there is indeed a swelling battery defect in the Series 2 models. It also extended the warranty of the device to three years from just one.

Apple started selling the Apple Watch Series 3 in September 2017, and right off the bat some owners complained that the screens on their units cracked, shattered and even detached from the wearable’s body.

Sciacca’s suit is seeking $5 million for Apple’s refusal to acknowledge the complaints raised against every edition of its Apple Watch device. The plaintiff also hopes that through this lawsuit, Apple’s conscious effort to conceal material facts pertaining to defects will be addressed.