Dutch Court Rules That Apple Must Replace Faulty Within-Warranty iPads With Brand New Models

[Maura]

9to5 Mac reports today on the ruling from a Dutch court that says that Apple cannot offer remanufactured units as warranty replacements, and must instead supply nothing but brand new models to the customer. This follows on from a previous ruling by the Dutch court that said that Apple could not offer refurbished products as warranty replacements.

After the previous ruling, Apple started offering what it referred to as “remanufactured” units to replace faulty iPads, as it said that they had the same manufacturing and inspection standards as brand new iPads, and therefore could not be considered to be the same as refurbished products.

However, a woman in Holland who was offered a remanufactured iPad as a warranty replacement did not think this was good enough, and decided to take Apple to court. Now, the Dutch judge has ruled in her favour, saying that she is entitled to a brand new iPad as a replacement. Apple will be fined €100 for each day that it does not give the woman a brand new iPad.

Source: Production of Apple's 'iPhone 8' said to be affected by unspecified Samsung OLED problems

 

[scifan57]

The ironic thing here is that the refurbished iPads that Apple offers as warranty replacements and sells on it's website are each individually inspected and certified. There's actually less chance of getting a faulty refurbished iPad than a faulty new iPad. A side by side comparison wouldn't be able to tell which was the new iPad and which was refurbished. The only difference is the box they come in.