Apple faces €180m in EU legal cases over older iPhones   

Apple is facing being sued in several European countries over misleading claims about the battery life of older iPhones.

Apple is facing being sued in several European countries seeking about €180m over misleading claims about the battery life of older iPhones.

A group of five European consumer organisations filed class-action legal cases in Belgium and Spain and plans to sue in Italy and Portugal over the coming weeks, Euroconsumers said. The lawsuits concern users of various iPhone 6 devices.

The cases mirror US lawsuits over claims that the company misled consumers about iPhone battery power and software updates that slowed the performance of the devices. 

The company last month agreed to pay $113m (€94m) to settle a case with multiple US regulators while customers are seeking approval from a US court for a class-action settlement that could be worth as much as $500m. 

“Consumers are increasingly upset by products wearing out too quickly, the iPhone 6 models being a very concrete example of that,” said Els Bruggeman, head of policy and enforcement at Euroconsumers. 

“Not only does it cause frustration and financial harm, from an environmental point of view it is also utterly irresponsible.”