Apple accused of blocking old iPhone chargers?

Apple seems to now be in a legal battle over usage of uncertified accessories for its iPhones. In a recent incident, a woman from California has sued Apple over her iPhone 7 which refused to charge using an uncertified charger.

Monica Emerson started a class-action lawsuit against the Californian Tech Giant when her iPhone 7 started showing up a message that the accessory she connected (an old iPhone charger) was not supported.

‘In or around October 2017, Plaintiff attempted to use her Apple Charger and received a message that read "This accessory may not be supported." Thus, requiring that people buy a new charger for her iPhone. Upon learning this, Plaintiff felt ripped off, cheated, and violated by Defendant,’ reported MacRumours.

The complaint, which is in possession of MacRumors, alleges that Monica bought an iPhone 7 in September 2016 and charged the device with the adapter that was included in the box without issue until around October 2017. Later, it it stopped working and showed up an alert "this accessory may not be supported."

The alert is part of Apple's system that aims to protect iOS devices against potentially dangerous aftermarket accessories, said the report.

Monica accused the company of releasing iOS updates for the iPhone which were "specifically designed and programmed to reject, starting on November of 2016, old iPhone chargers from properly charging the iPhones."

She claimed that the alert forced her, and probably thousands of other customers, to buy new iPhone chargers, and hence sued Apple for unfair business practices.

‘Emerson supposedly always used Apple's first-party charger, but it's unclear whether it was connected to the iPhone with an Apple-certified Lightning to USB cable under the Made for iPhone program. If she was using an Apple power adapter with an uncertified cable, then the message was correctly displayed,’ reported MacRumours.

While there is a remote possibility of the above incident being forced down by Apple as it is presently unheard of. However, there could be issues such as a dirty pin or Lightning connector.

The case is presently up in the US District Court for Central California.