Last Thursday, a California federal court filed a lawsuit alleging that the Apple Watch has an “undisclosed and unnecessarily dangerous security threat”. The lawsuit lists all of the company’s smartwatch models, from the first Apple Watch to the newest Watch Series 6.
In particular, the lawsuit points to the fact that the Apple failed to provide enough room inside the watch to allow for swelling of the internal battery. As a result the watch screen can detach, crack or shatter.
Apple is sued for allegedly unsafe Apple Watch
Despite knowing the battery can suddenly swell, the Complaint alleges that Apple allocated insufficient room inside the Apple Watch for it to freely expand without affecting the screen face and/or failed to incorporate a protective guard to keep it from contacting the screen face.
The swelling creates considerable upward pressure on the Apple Watch face, allegedly causing detachment, shattering, and/or cracking of the screen through no fault of the wearer. When this happens, it exposes razor-sharp edges and leads to operational failure and/or injuries resulting from unintended bodily contact with the detached, shattered, or cracked screen.
The applicants expect that the claim will receive collective status. The users demanded a jury trial; as well as damages for the plaintiffs and those who joined the class action lawsuit; as well as disclosure of the imperfect design of the smartwatch.
Apple uniformly failed to disclose that the Watches contained the Defect that would cause them to fail and render them an unreasonable safety hazard resulting in injury to the wearer. This makes the Watches unmerchantable and unfit for the uses Apple advertised, e.g., activity oriented, fitness, athletic use, health, and safety.
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It should be noted that similar cases have been initiated in the past in relation to the batteries of iPhone smartphones; and none of them ended in a decision in the applicant’s favor.
Apple will introduce rugged smartwatches and Watch SE 2 next year
Recently, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman published the Power On newsletter, which shares predictions for devices that Apple will release in 2022. We’ve already reported five new Arm-based Macs and Apple’s mixed reality headsets. In addition, the analyst says that next year there will be a major update to the Apple Watch series.
In addition to the basic model of the smartwatches, the second generation Watch SE; and a protected model aimed at outdoor enthusiasts will see the light of day. The analyst did not say what to expect from the updated Watch SE; but MacRumors suggests that the new product will offer users a slightly redesigned look; and more advanced functions for monitoring health indicators.
Alongside the Watch Series 8 and Watch SE, Apple will release brand new watches designed for athletes. Bloomberg previously reported that the company is considering launching stronger watches with increased durability. According to reports, the watch will receive a new design; and its case will be resistant to scratches, falls and other aggressive influences.
