U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup has dismissed a lawsuit against Apple alleging the company knowingly sold consumers MacBook laptops with defective logic boards. The Judge ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show the laptops were sub-par because they were able to use the computers for two years.
Judge Dismisses lawsuit claiming Apple sold MacBook Pro computers with defective logic boards
Judge Alsop said,
Plaintiffs have failed to allege that Apple's logic boards were unfit for their ordinary purposes or lacked a minimal level of quality. Both plaintiffs were able to adequately use their computers for approximately 18 months and two years, respectively.
The two plaintiffs, Benedict Verceles and Uriel Marcus, claimed Apple intentionally misled customers with claims that its MacBook laptop line was state of the art and "the most advanced" on the market, according to Reuters. They also claimed that the laptops, manufactured in 2010, failed within two years of purchase because of the defective logic boards, and that Apple CEO Tim Cook was informed of the issue in 2011.
A second and independent lawsuit against Apple claims 2011 MacBook Pro models shipped with defective graphics cards. That case is still underway, and recently expanded to include Canadian Apple customers.
The plaintiffs in the just dismissed defective logic board case have until January 22 to amend their filing in hope that Judge Alsop will reverse his ruling.