A lengthy endeavor to initiate a class action lawsuit against Apple regarding iCloud storage has been officially dismissed.
This week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the lawsuit, stating that the plaintiffs did not succeed in substantiating their claims.
Throughout the lawsuit, the plaintiffs raised several allegations concerning iCloud and Apple’s upgrade practices. They claimed that Apple deceives consumers into believing they must pay for iCloud storage. Additionally, they accused Apple of unfair competition, breach of contract, fraud, and more.
The central claim was that Apple “misleads customers into paying for its iCloud data storage service by falsely implying that users can reduce their storage to remain on the free 5 GB plan.”
This week, as reported by Law360, the Ninth Circuit dismissed those claims. The district court had already dismissed the lawsuit in May 2022, which led the plaintiffs to appeal to the Ninth Circuit. This week’s filing confirmed that the lower court “correctly dismissed” the case.
In the recent court filing, it was stated:
The plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient evidence of an actionable misrepresentation. According to the claims in the third amended complaint, Apple did not make any statements that would help consumers manage their data to stay within the 5 GB limit for free iCloud storage. Although Apple indicated that users could decrease their iCloud storage, the plaintiffs did not provide facts showing that it is “virtually impossible” for them to do so.
Regarding the plaintiffs’ claims of breach of contract:
The district court appropriately dismissed the breach of contract allegation. The plaintiffs contend that Apple’s Terms & Conditions and a warning email regarding the 5 GB limit include binding promises that users can reduce their data storage to avoid paying for iCloud or downgrade to the free plan from a paid subscription.
However, the statements the plaintiffs referenced do not constitute binding promises and are merely informational. Even if they were enforceable, the plaintiffs have not provided any facts indicating that these promises were breached. As previously stated, the plaintiffs have not adequately demonstrated that it is impossible to reduce data and downgrade to the free 5 GB plan.
The plaintiffs were granted “three opportunities to revise” their case to address the deficiencies pointed out by the district court. The case was ultimately dismissed when it became evident that the complaint could not be resolved through amendments.
Meanwhile, Apple continues to face a different class action lawsuit concerning the restrictions of the 5GB free iCloud tier and related issues with iPhone backup. This case is led by the Hagens Berman law firm, which has represented numerous class action suits against Apple, including the notable $560 million class action regarding price-fixing in Apple Books.
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