The iPhone hasn't even been out for 300 days yet. There's no way someone could of fully charged / discharged it 300 times with normal use.

God Bless the American Judicial System.

You don't need to be able to spell correctly. You don't need to follow established rules of grammar.
You can lie in your complaint ("undisclosed to the public" before the launch???).

As long as you can pony up the filing fee, you can sue whoever, for whatever, lie up the wazoo, and just keep your fingers crossed that the court will eventually certify your class and you can cash in. . .

This guy obviously is Pro Per . ..

For the most part, lawyers play an important and productive role in this country (all jokes aside). This guy's counsel is clearly a complete idiot. Plus, this came out on July 27. There's no way this guy (or anyone else who buys an iPhone) couldn't have returned the phone when he figured out this shortcoming.

That said, I wish I could replace the battery in my iPhone. I used to keep a spare for my Treo in my briefcase all the time. It came in handy more than a few times when I needed to use the phone a lot during a day. The good news is that tons of people have iPod chargers and so its not too hard to find a place to juice up the iPhone.

Look, I think the iPhone's crap in a lot of ways, but what is this guy talking about when he says "undisclosed to the public?" It was always pretty clear to me that the iPhone's battery wasn't user replaceable. That's part of the reason I'm not interested in one. Also, he makes the (possibly false) statement that you can only charge it 300 times, but if Apple is supposedly keeping all this info a secret, how does he know about the charge limit? Is he just the biggest iPhone power user on the planet and has had to charge the phone 300 times already?

In short, this guy's either a jerk or a moron (maybe both).

How is it a "Substantive Allegation" that Apple sold 500,000 units? That seems more like "Substantive Pat on the back to Apple".

Note to Jesus Diaz: You come across as a bit of a douche when you criticize someone's grammar in a post when you make several errors yourself. To wit:

1) "First iPhone Class-Action Suite" -- it's "suit", not "suite". A "suite" is a collection of office furniture, or a larger hotel room, or a collection of sofware. You are looking for "suit", as in "lawsuit".

2) "Putting aside that this guy's lawyers grammar is worse than mine" -- oh, much hilarity here Jesus, as you clearly mean "lawyer's", being the possesive form, rather than the plural.

Advice -- stick to reporting on USB gadgets rather than mocking others.

Oh yes, and this lawsuit is stupid. With that, I agree.

By the way, you said you were going to provide the "entire complaint text" after the jump . . . I see only page 3. Am I missing something??? I was really hoping to have the whole thing, for a little morning humor.

I really dislike the grammar police. It's a BLOG FER CHRISSAKES.

300 charges = a year? doesn't the battery last upwards of 10 days on standby, and probably around 3 days with normal use? sounds more like 2-3 years to me... and ALL batteries are like that.

I thought Apple was pretty upfront about the whole situation to begin with... So he has no reason to sue, especially since he has the facts *all* screwed up.

Class action lawsuits: Pushing up the price of consumer goods since 1776.

well, I'm hoping follow up versions of the iPhone will have a battery compartment that will allow you to swap out the battery with an over the counter one (even if the counter is an Apple / AT&T store).

Built in batteries are so 20th century.

@ANFIELD: Yes, you are right. I admit my bad english in the post itself and I am not joking. That post went up without editing by error and since I am not an english-native speaker (I'm spanish), I often have spelling mistakes.

I am not, however, a lawyer in Illinois. If someone made an error like writing "it's" instead of "its" (and the rest of big errors in the lawsuiT), they won't allow him/her to be a lawyer in my country.

@GOTTAGO: It's uploading as I write these lines.

for the guy criticizing diaz about grammar and spelling,what is this sofware you speak of? is it something revolutionary, like the iphone? because clearly you didn't mean software...(neighborhood grammar watch)now to the point, what idiot actually thinks a court is going to award them, let alone take them serious, for something that my 4 year old sister knows about?

What a moron.

The lawsuit is frivolous and stupid, yes, but let's be careful with saying the particulars of the lawsuit are inaccurate. Nobody knows at what point iPhones will need to have a replacement battery, but I have a finsky that says that some (not all - but some) owners will start replacing batteries before a year is out because they are not holding a reasonable charge.

The reason I toss that out there is because we have had hundreds of smart phones (primarily Treo devices) through our office, and replacing the battery is very common. When looking at the battery type in the iPhone it is identical to what everyone else is using. So, based on that, we can assume that the iPhone battery life will last a similar amount of time. How long is that?

(Wait for it) .. About a year.

And while I am completely disgusted with the lawsuit, the fact remains that Steve Jobs made a mistake not allowing the battery to be user replaceable. Hell, he soldered the damn thing down, didn't he? Sounds like they wanted to make the replacement process as difficult as possible. So, yes, if we are handing out idiot scores, the folks filing the lawsuit get a few points, but so does Apple.

URB

Don't worry Jesus, you have some nasty photoshop skills to back up you're dual languages. God forbid someone be fluent in more than one language and make a grammar mistake..

Mistake by Jobs? It isn't a mistake, it is dealing with the limitations of reality. The reality is that to make the phone very thin it needed a very small atypical battery. The disadvantage is that the battery will need professional replacement. That will be a pain and many users will have to do so ONCE during about the beginning or middle of their second year of ownership. Few iPhone owners will own the phone long enough to have to do this more than once. Yes, it will be annoying, but Apple made the decision that the trade off is worth it. It isn't like this was an oversight.

My friend has the iPhone and I've used it. Battery life is an issue and a back up would be nice about once a month for the average user. Having the phone small is nice every time you slip it into your pocket. The trade off seems well worth it to me. The phone basically rocks and makes all others seem lame (I had the Treo for a while, it doesn't stack up to the iPhone). I probably won't get it because I have a blackberry for work, but that (and AT&T's service) is pretty much the only reason I'm not getting it.

@papercutninja
At the risk of sounding like a douche, bad grammar/poor spelling is rampant in all corners of business and, yes, even journalism (this blog is a journalistic endeavor, after all). I know that a lot of it is a product of rushed schedules and tight deadlines (quantity vs. quality), but most of it is not.

I've been in the business world for approaching twelve years. Over this relatively short span, I've witnessed a distinct downward trend in the ability of "educated" people to communicate clearly and accurately. We all laugh at the "Chinglish" grammar all over the various user manuals for electronics we buy (especially of the low-end variety), but keep in mind that these are products of folks whose primary language is not English (either that or Babelfish).

Discounting Anfield's post by intimating that it's OK because it's just a blog completely discounts the importance of blogs today. Look at the subject matter experts that are used by major news organizations like CNN these days. Who are they? More often than not, they're bloggers. Blogs are quickly changing the way we get information, as I'm sure everyone here agrees. We should, therefore, expect the same level of professionalism from these "new journalists" as we do of the old guard.

Have you seen Idiocracy? At the rate we're devolving, it could happen ;-)

@jesusdiaz: Thanks for the whole complaint! I appreciate the pitfalls of the topsy-turvey (sp?) world of fast-breaking blog news. Minor grammar/format errors are the price the public must pay for white-hot breaking news stories . . . I for one am willing to pay that price.

Despite this being a bullshit lawsuit, this is something apple should be changing. It's obserd that you cant change your own battery outta that thing. Apple had to put a plastic piece on the back so signals could get through to/from the unit, why not just have that be removable? its really easy enough. They're just being money hungry assholes, to charge you for a simple task you should be able to do on your own. Ipod, ok, whatever, understandable somewhat, iphone? bullshit, some people cant afford the inconvenience and downtime of the repair time on a cell phone.

If this guy wins his suit, then I think I am going to sue Hewlett Packard. Its been about a year and my laptop battery isn't holding much of a charge. Oh yeah wait, what about my car battery? I had that a few years before it died - maybe I will sue Duralast. Why wouldn't these companies batteries last forever? Thats right - batteries don't last forever. Lithium batteries in particular (iphone and laptop batteries) are natorious for not lasting more than about a year. This isn't news - just physics. Until a breakthrough, cost-effective battery hits the market, that's all we have. Besides, I would much rather go through Apple for a battery replacement than HP. Three day turn-around - try getting that from HP.

@TallManNY:

Have you seen how thin the sony ericsson w880i is (9.4mm)? you can still change the battery outta that, vs. the iphone (11.6). Seriously, what is apples big excuse?

...undisclosed to the public...? I'm part of the public and I knew about these "issues".

Seems to me he's suing the company because the device is doing exactly what they claimed it would do / built how they said it was built. Sucks for him if he doesn't like it.

One more month (or less) and you'll see 3rd parties selling iPhone battery replacement kits. What an ass.

@ikelleigh: It was already announced last week.

My Handspring Visor Pro had a sealed battery. Still works 6 years later. My Palm T3 has a sealed battery. Still use it 3 years later. My Palm Treo battery is still original and still works fine, 18 months later.

It's a feature of the product, not a design defect. Don't like it, don't buy it. Apple's been clear on this - the iPod battery isn't replacable either so we all know their mind set on this. These are disposable products - average use by consumers is 2 years so having the battery last a little bit longer than this is an obvious design decision.

@ LSCHOFIELD
"Don't like it, don't buy it."
Exactly. Or Latinistically, "Caveat Emptor."

The iPhone's lack of a user replaceable battery is but one compalaint in a short list of complaints that didn't keep me and a lot of other people from buying the phone. My goal is to reward good design and that, battery replacability or none, is why I purchased the iPhone. Everything is lacking on the first pass in some way or another, the trick is to reward the best efforts and watch them grow into better efforts by demanding that they do. The trick is NOT to bring frivolous lawsuits into being and hold up the progress of things.

What a fucking moron.

OK, so how often do people change their cell phones these days - 12 months, 18 months ? And how long will the battery last ? ... Oh, could it possibly still be around 80% capacity at 12-18 months ?
And won't Apple replace it anyway for a pretty reasonable price ? ... Is this guy saying he can afford $533.9 this year, but not $85.95 next year ?
Is he just a money grabbing, profiteering litigator, abusing a legal system for personal gain ? ... Well you might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment :)

sooo...how can that be case to sue some1

When I saw that he didn't buy the 8GB Model, I stopped reading.

Stupid lawsuit, all die hard apple fanatics know the batteries are crap, that you cant replace them yourself and dont last very long on a single charge and eventually do die, forcing you to be without your precious device for days if not weeks.

Yeah the only people who dont know about this, would probably be non-apple fanatics.

@lschofield:

Dont like it, Dont buy it.

Exactly, this is why i'll never buy an apple product (the battery thing). And why ill never refer apple products to family or friends.

Aint word of mouth great?

@elister: Word of mouth can still be blessed by ignorance, you know.

There are loads of people that will testify to the endurance of iPod batteries, yet you still refuse to buy one because you can't change it. Who's being ignorant?

Besides, changing it really isn't that much of a hassle. Even in Norway it's a relatively straightforward task to find someone who'll change it for you (should it be necessary).

My 16-18 months old iPod 5G (Video) has been used A LOT during that period, yet still I don't notice any considerable reduction in capacity.

@elister:

"...ill never refer apple products to family or friends."

Do you like having to help your family/friends with IT problems all the time?

I've never owned an Apple product, but I thought it was like this with most of their things?

Yes this lawsuit is ridiculously stupid. But remember the lady who sued and won her suit against McDonalds for her coffee being...hot?

And it's common knowledge that most apple products do not include a user-replaceable battery, so what exactly is the issue here?

Damn, I'm like 0 for 3 recently for missing things in my first post.

While he's at it, he should add in another page to the suit suing for compensation because he has to use electricity to charge the battery, apple never told me that.

@Jesus Diaz

Porque les pones attencion, si ya sabes que de cualquiera manera van ha encontrar algo de que @h!ngar

i meaned the guy fied a law suit against apple and the death star, i mean AT&T, did they grant it :class action status" all ready?

and like the poster abouve me, hell you can always return it if you do not like it...sounds like he should return the iphone and get a life

@EXCAZA, that's exactly why I wanted to publish that story up. To show how stupid it is ASAP. But you are right, given the state of the legal system in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple settled with these morons just to avoid the public relations pain.

@digidandy:

"There are loads of people that will testify to the endurance of iPod batteries, yet you still refuse to buy one because you can't change it. Who's being ignorant?"

Stop being a fanboy, apple batteries are notorious for having a low charge, need I mention the fiasco with the laptop batteries? You charge them all the time, and its going to die. People dont wait for the battery to fully drain before re-charging them and with that it makes a piss poor battery life even worse.

"Besides, changing it really isn't that much of a hassle. Even in Norway it's a relatively straightforward task to find someone who'll change it for you (should it be necessary)."

Its a big deal if I have to go without my MP3 player for a few weeks, even bigger deal if you have to lose your phone, even if its just for a few days.

In this guy's defense, there was an inaccurate story supporting his claim posted on one of those gadget blogs. :P

@lschofield:
For $500 or $600, I'd like to think that I'd use an iPhone for more than 2 years. I'm just crazy like that, you know?

This guy is a moron, no doubt about it, but given that battery life is a major issue for a lot of devices (laptops, media players, phones, etc.), you'd think Apple would have done a little better job of either putting in a better battery or making the batteries replacable. This is especially true given the level of fanatacism that many Apple fans achieve.

Why when someone defends Apple are they instantly a "fanboy"? Please. This lawsuit is, indeed, frivolous at best. Grammar aside, it is pretty clearly stated that the battery is built-in (see the tech specs on the website). In my opinion that fact takes whatever teeny tiny bits of credibility the filing may have had.

The initial lawsuits against Apple for first generation iPod batter failures had a bit more merit, and since that time technology has improved and so has Apple's disclosure of battery limitations. There are also DIY kits available for battery replacement: I am sure these will come around once it is reasonable that batteries would by dying.

I hope the person filing this suit has it thrown right back at him, with court charges levied.

I have to ask this...
DID anyone see an advert about the iPhone running 8 hours, NOT 4... a few weeks before the release??

PS...Im Quitting this site, because I wont let Gawker.com have access to my computer, Just so I can post...

Remember when several Nokia phones exploded, injuring their owners? It didn't matter that counterfeit batteries were to blame, Nokia still had to defend themselves against the bad press.

Apple likes to control the entire life cycle of their products. They don't want commoners like us sticking our grubby little fingers in their precious devices and messing things up because they know they will be the ones blamed for any problems that may arise. They want their products to be maintenance free and the best way to do that is to seal it up.

Besides, adding a battery-release button would give button-phobic Jobs the willies.

Just so you all know, That lady that spilled her coffee on herself and got millions, she was forced to pay almost all of the money back a few years later thanks to the Clinton administration. I forget exactly how they did it but she landed up losing all of that money.

Used to be that a sucker is born every minute - that now should read a "moron" is born every minute, as this frivolous class action suit, or should we say extortion attempt clearly shows. Only in America!

@Brian B:
You're - not your! - making a very valid point. The poor spelling is only one issue that's grist for the mill of those old media journalists who consider bloggers a lower form of life.

@anfield: You come across as a bit of a douche