Judge opens door for millions to sue Apple: App Store walls crumble as class-action lawsuit gets green light

In March 2022, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers initially declined to certify a class action. However, she reversed her decision after the class was narrowed down to include only Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content.

Although expressing concern that the narrowed class might encompass more than 10 million accounts that suffered no harm, accounting for 7.9% of the total, Rogers noted that this number could be reduced. She emphasized that there was no fixed “cutoff” for denying certification.

The judge also dismissed Apple’s attempt to exclude testimony from two expert witnesses, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel McFadden, that Apple considered unreliable. These experts are expected to shed light on how Apple may have caused harm to consumers.

Mark Rifkin, the lawyer representing the consumers, expressed being “extremely pleased” with the judge’s decision and looks forward to the next phase of the 12-year-old antitrust case. Rifkin estimated that the class incurred “billions of dollars in damages.”