Jonathan’s villain of the fortnight

Apple

When it’s not busy slowing down people’s iphones and ipads on purpose ( www.snipca.com/28217), Apple is guilty of misleading the public about consumer rights. And when we say ‘guilty’ we mean guilty in the eyes of the law – Australian law, at least. Apple was fined AU$9M (around £5m) last month after admitting it misinformed users over 2016’s ‘Error 53’ message (see screenshot).

Error 53 (which has since been fixed via an update) broke IOS devices that had been repaired by anyone who wasn’t an official Apple engineer, even if it was only to replace a cracked screen. Apple initially refused to fix the error on the dubious grounds that the devices had been tampered with by unauthorised technicians, arguing this was to protect users from “malicious” components being added, such as hackable fingerprint sensors.

Thankfully, the Aussie courts weren’t falling for this. Here’s hoping that UK judges take the same hard line with the next big tech company that tries to get away with hoodwinking customers.