Back in late December, Apple was fined $1.2 million by Italian regulators over allegations that the company promoted its AppleCare extended warranty program to customers without adequately disclosing that many of the program's benefits were already included in the standard two-year warranty required by Italian law.

italian apple store applecare notice
As noted by @setteBIT, Apple has now added to its Italian online store a prominent link sharing the court decision (PDF). The document outlines the requirement that Apple modify the marketing terms for its AppleCare services in Italy within 90 days from the December 21 decision to properly reflect what is covered under standard two-year warranties and to widely publicize that information to consumers.

It is unclear whether Apple will continue to appeal the fine, with today's posting of the decision perhaps designed to meet the court's requirements while the case remains ongoing.

Top Rated Comments

Hellhammer Avatar
173 months ago
Great to see that they follow the law. In any case I guess it is much easier to get stuff repaired if you have AppleCare. At least I buy it most of the times for my MacBooks.

No offense but it's stupid to pay if laws are giving you the same rights. I know that some countries, especially the US, don't have such laws but in countries that have, you should just take advantage of the legal system. Otherwise we wouldn't have lawsuits like this and companies would keep ripping off people.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Carlanga Avatar
173 months ago
How can you call a hyperlink of font size 10 in black prominent... Sure is in the middle on top of pictures of the items, but it should be at least in red and in bigger letters or with a border like MR created for the pic :roll eyes:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
173 months ago
No offense but it's stupid to pay if laws are giving you the same rights. I know that some countries, especially the US, don't have such laws but in countries that have, you should just take advantage of the legal system. Otherwise we wouldn't have lawsuits like this and companies would keep ripping off people.

The laws, even in Italy, don't give you _the same_ rights. They just give you slightly better rights then you might think.

Apple warranty: 1 year unless Apple shows that the problem is your fault.
AppleCare: 3 years unless Apple shows that the problem is your fault.

The Law: 6 months unless Apple shows that the problem is your fault.
A reasonable time / 2 years in Italy if you show that the problem isn't your fault.

So the law gives you more than Apple's warranty, but less than AppleCare. The point is that Apple should have told customers that they have more rights than Apple's warranty, but that doesn't make AppleCare worthless.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Itzamna Avatar
173 months ago
Once again:

Apple warranty: 1 year unless Apple shows that the problem is your fault.
AppleCare: 3 years unless Apple shows that the problem is your fault.

The Law: 6 months unless Apple shows that the problem is your fault.
A reasonable time / 2 years in Portugal if you show that the problem isn't your fault.

Can you see the tiny tiny little detail "if you show that the problem isn't your fault"? I'll just tell you that you would lose any lawsuit _unless the seller refused to fix problems after you proved it wasn't your fault_.
I'm glad that you know so much about Portuguese law... ;)

Pitty that you are a bit on the wrong side... :P


1st) The article 5 of the Warranty Decree is self explanatory... There is no six months period in Portugal... We have only one single window of 2 years (or 5 depending on the product).

2nd) During those 2 years, the burden of proof that it was (or was not) damage induced by the customer belongs to the manufacter not the customer. I don't have to prove anything. (art. 6 of the Warranty Decree)

3rd) The article 12 in the costumer law says that even if its not the manufacter fault, i can still try to activate the warranty aslong it complies within the warranty decree.

4th) On a side note, we also have a 2 month period where we can and we should complain about manufacturing defects and if any defect is from manufacturing and its a severe defect, we can replace the product for a new one during that period.



Anyway here is the costumer law (in Portuguese):

http://www.acra.pt/_pdf/LEI_DO_CONSUMIDOR.pdf


the warranty decree (again in Portuguese):

http://dre.pt/pdf1sdip/2003/04/083A00/22802283.PDF


And here is another decree about financial and comercial fairplay:

http://dre.pt/pdf1sdip/2007/03/06000/17361739.PDF
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CmdrLaForge Avatar
173 months ago
No offense but it's stupid to pay if laws are giving you the same rights. I know that some countries, especially the US, don't have such laws but in countries that have, you should just take advantage of the legal system. Otherwise we wouldn't have lawsuits like this and companies would keep ripping off people.
I pay because the law is absolutely not giving you the same rights. First, there is a difference between the guarantee from the manufacturer and the warranty from the law. Usually the manufacturer provides one year of guarantee, after that there is an additional 1 year (so two years in total) in which the manufacturer has to repair in case the problem was already there when the product was shipped ( no wear out of connectors etc...) and it is up to the customer to prove that !!! In Germany there are two different terms (Garantie and Gewahrleistung). The law gives you two years of Gewahrleistung not Garantie. I don't know the correct corresponding English terms, here is more info. (http://www.anwalt-seiten.de/artikel/sec1/221.html)

With AppleCare you get 3 years trouble free service and you can much more easily sell the unit on eBay because people know if they receive a unit with any problem they just call Apple and they will fix it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hellhammer Avatar
173 months ago
Prices look really high, can anyone else in a eurozone country confirm that those prices are much higher than normal? 120 Euro for ATV is really expensive and it looks like Apple has just rolled that extra year of warranty into the prices.

Euro prices have VAT included in them, while the US prices are tax-free (sales tax will be added depending on the state).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...