Apple pays two seconds of quarterly profit for wiping pensioner's pics

London bloke claims (extremely) small victory in court

A London pensioner has defeated Apple in court, bagging £1,200 ($1,791) from the tech goliath.

Deric White, 68, was awarded the cash after Regent Street Apple Store "geniuses" in London deleted photos and the address book on his iPhone while performing a factory reset during a repair.

White had taken Apple to court alleging negligence. He said the wiped data included 15 years of contacts and photos taken during his recent honeymoon in the Seychelles.

The smartmobe had, apparently, not been backed up to iCloud prior to the wipe.

Apple claimed White had agreed to the possibility of losing his stored data when he handed the iPhone over for repairs. However, the Central London County Court ruled in favor of the bloke, awarding him a fifth of his £5,000 claim and an additional £773 to cover legal costs.

"The defendant's employees were negligent in the treatment of the claimant's telephone, causing the claimant loss of photographs of particular sentimental value and the loss of all his contacts," District Judge Ruth Fine ruled on Tuesday.

Prior to the decision, White had reportedly offered to settle with Apple and drop the £5,000 claim in exchange for a new monitor and scanner, an offer Cook and Co's lawyers turned down.

"I would not let it go," the ex-property manager told London's Evening Standard.

"Having fought cancer, I was not going to get defeated by Apple. My wife was reduced to tears when they wiped my phone. Everyone tells me this has happened to them or their mate.

"I did this for the common man. I would say to anybody who has got a gripe with Apple – don't let them boss you about and ignore you."

Strong words from White, but the payout isn't even a rounding error on Cupertino's books. Apple cleared $11.1bn in net profit over the past quarter alone.

In fact, Apple spends more than the $1,791 White won just on Cook's daily security detail. ®