Apple sued over MacBooks' millions of colours

 

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Posted on 21 May 2007 at 14:37

Apple is facing a class action lawsuit in the US alleging that it made 'false claims' about the quality of the display in its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops.

The case has been brought by two MacBook owners, Fred Greaves and Dave Gately, who charge Apple with deceptive advertising, misrepresentation and unfair competition over the use of the phrase 'millions of colors' to describe the capability of the LCD displays in the laptops.

They claim that rather than showing 16,777,216 colours with an 8-bit LCD, the MacBooks deliver the 'illusion' of millions of colours.

The filing states that 'the displays are only capable of displaying the illusion of millions of colors through the use of a software technique referred to as "dithering," which causes nearby pixels on the display to use slightly varying shades of colors that trick the human eye into perceiving the desired color even though it is not truly that color.'

The suit then cites numerous complaints from Apple customers that have been posted on Internet forums. It says that many have contacted Apple but their complaints were dismissed.

'Many such dissatisfied purchasers were chastised by Apple agents and employees for being too picky about their assessment of the quality of the display,' the suit alleges. 'Other dissatisfied purchasers were told that they were imagining the complained about defects.'

The suit asks the Californian court to force Apple to stop cease selling 'defective laptops' and provide 'appropriate relief' to MacBook purchasers.

Apple does not comment on ongoing legal disputes. Its online developers' documentation states that while both the MacBook and MacBook Pro deliver as promised, it is 17in iMacs that dither 6-bit components to show up to millions of colours.

Author: Simon Aughton