Apple is facing a £750 million class action-style lawsuit in the UK over battery ‘throttling’ on its handsets.

Lodged with the UK judicial body the Competition Appeal Tribunal by consumer rights campaigner Justin Gutmann, the filing alleges that Apple concealed a battery management system in a software update in 2017 which slowed down the performance of older iPhones.

The smartphone giant did not give users an option to disable the setting, despite knowing it was worsening performance of their phones and effectively throttling performance deliberately, the case claims.

Apple has previously admitted that the 2017 update scuppered device performance, but claims the software was intended to protect the phone's battery life.

Affecting iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X models, Gutmann claims the update rendered older iPhones slower at dealing with software updates, encouraging users to upgrade to newer handset models.

Justin Gutmann said: "Instead of doing the honourable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58%.

"I'm launching this case so that millions of iPhone users across the UK will receive redress for the harm suffered by Apple's actions.”

In a statement to the Times newspaper, a spokesperson for Apple said the company has: “never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades”.

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