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Apple facing lawsuit over shrinking iPhone and iPad storage following iOS 8 update

Apple is facing a lawsuit over the amount of space that the iOS 8 update takes up on iPhone, iPads, and iPods.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer

Apple is facing a lawsuit over the amount of space that the iOS 8 update takes up on iPhone, iPads, and iPods.

The complaint, filed in California by Miami residents Paul Orshan and Christopher Endara, claims that the 16GB iPhones and iPads they purchased had less than the stated amount of usable space, and that this was further reduced after upgrading his iPhone 5S from iOS 7 to iOS 8.

The complaint claims that iOS 8 can occupy more than 23 percent of the storage available on some devices, and further goes on to claim that upgrading devices from iOS 7 to 8 can cause users to lose a further 1.3GB of storage.

"Apple's misrepresentations and omissions are deceptive and misleading because they omit material facts that an average consumer would consider in deciding whether to purchase its products," the complaint says.

"Rather ironically, Apple touts iOS 8 as 'The biggest iOS release ever.' Of course, Apple is not referring to the literal size of iOS 8, which appears to be entirely undisclosed in its voluminous marketing materials extolling the purported virtues of iOS 8."

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Orshan/Endara complaint

Further, the complaint goes on to assert that users who purchased iPhones, iPads, and iPods with 16GB of storage are being pushed to purchase iCloud storage because of this storage grab.

"Using these sharp business tactics, [Apple] gives less storage capacity than advertised, only to offer to sell that capacity in a desperate moment, e.g., when a consumer is trying to record or take photos at a child or grandchild's recital, basketball game or wedding," the complaint says. "To put this in context, each gigabyte of storage Apple shortchanges its customers amounts to approximately 400-500 high resolution photographs."

The complaint seeks class action status for others who purchased 16GB Apple devices and damages in excess of $5 million.

Apple has not commented on this complaint.

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