iPhone 4 Power Button Defect Class Action Lawsuit

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The iPhone 4 has been plagued with problems since its release, triggering multiple class action lawsuits from disgruntled phone owners. Now, just as Apple is wrapping up payments from a class action settlement over antenna problems, comes a new claim that the iPhone 4 has a defective power button that renders the phone useless shortly after its one-year warranty expires.

Plaintiff Debra Hilton alleges in a proposed class action lawsuit filed Friday that despite touting the iPhone as an innovative technological marvel, the iOS 4 version contains a latent defect in a relatively simple component part: the power button. Apple knows about the defect, but conceals it from consumers, according to the complaint.

Hilton says the iPhone 4 power button defect is caused by the premature deterioration of a flex cable that connects the power button to the phone. When it deteriorates, the power button becomes harder and harder to depress until eventually it becomes entirely unresponsive.

“The failure of the power button that has plagued the iPhone 4 is more than an inconvenience,” the iPhone 4 class action lawsuit says. “As a method by which the phone is toggled on and off, the failure of the button precludes general use of the phone and thereby effectively prevents iPhone 4 owners from being able to use the phone.”

Thousands of iPhone 4 users have suffered a similar fate, the class action lawsuit says, forcing them to scuttle their phone or pay Apple $149.99 plus shipping for a replacement.

The class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a proposed class of all consumers who purchased an iPhone 4 for personal use from with Apple or AT&T in the United States. It is seeking damages, restitution and more for alleged RICO violations and unfair competition.

The iPhone 4 Power Button Class Action Lawsuit case is Debra Hilton v. Apple Inc., Case No. 13-cv-2167, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Hilton is represented by Roy A. Katriel of The Katriel Law Firm.

UPDATE: A federal judge dismissed the iPhone 4 Power Button Defect Class Action Lawsuit on April 18, 2014.