Judge dismisses case calling iPhone marketing ‘misleading’

A federal court in New York has dismissed a class-action lawsuit which accused Apple of “false and misleading” advertising over the water-resistant credentials of its iPhones.

According to the lawsuit, reported by the Reuters news agency, Apple deliberately exaggerated the water resistance of the iPhone in order to sell the device at twice the price of “average smartphones”.

District Judge Denise Cote agreed that Apple’s marketing could be perceived as misleading, and acknowledged the plaintiffs’ claims were plausible. But she found no proof of fraud: there was no evidence that Apple intended to overstate its water-resistance claims, she noted.

Furthermore, the judge observed that the plaintiffs were unable to show that their iPhones had been damaged by liquid contact that Apple marketing had claimed they would be able to survive. Nor was it possible to prove that it was the claim of water resistance specifically that made dissatisfied customers choose the iPhone over other smartphones, she said.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Spencer Sheehan, said his clients were disappointed by the decision. They have not yet decided whether to appeal, he added. Neither Apple nor its lawyers have commented.

As recently as November 2020, a court in Italy ruled against Apple for misleading marketing regarding the water resistance of the iPhone. On that occasion, the technology giant was fined €10m (roughly £9m/$12m).

This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.