Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – On Wednesday, a U.S. Judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc (NASDAQ) alleging that it defrauded customers by selling iPhones or iPads whose processors were vulnerable to cybersecurity flaws. This was first revealed in 2018.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, San Jose, California, said that customers did not prove they paid too much for their Apple devices. This was because Apple knew about defects and offered security patches to make them significantly more slow.

Apple, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ) Inc, and others filed the suit after revealing Meltdown & Spectre flaws in their computers. These vulnerabilities could allow hackers to access these devices and steal their memories contents.

Apple customers claimed Cupertino-based Apple discovered the defect in June 2017 but did not respond until the New York Times published the details.

Davila said that customers didn’t show that they relied upon Apple’s marketing and that Apple’s claims that their products are “secure” or “built with your privacy in mind”, were not sufficient to back these claims.

Judge also said that Apple could not claim its processors are faster or last longer because patches might have affected performance.

Davila said that the plaintiffs failed to allege an affirmative false representation, an actionable error, or actual dependence” on Apple misstatements.

The lawyers representing the plaintiffs did not respond immediately to our requests for comment. Davila indicated that the plaintiffs can repleade their claims until June 30,

Chips from the only chip that was affected by meltdown were not at risk Intel Corp (NASDAQ) Spectre impacted nearly every chip made during the previous decade.

Apple sought a dismissal citing similar lawsuits against Intel (NASDAQ:) Inc.

In re Apple Processor Litigation. U.S. District Court Northern District of California. 18-00147.