We all saw this one coming a mile away: Apple is finally being taken to task over iOS 4 performance on the iPhone 3G. In a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California for San Diego, plaintiff Biana Wofford alleges that Apple purposely crippled the iPhone 3G with its introduction of iOS 4 in order to boost iPhone 4 sales, and hopes to get her lawsuit elevated to class action status.

Apple originally marketed iOS 4 as a major upgrade for iPhone 3G and 3GS users. That operating system came out just days before Apple started selling the iPhone 4 to the public, but iPhone 3G users quickly learned that it wasn't what they had been hoping for. There were soon widespread reports of extremely slow and buggy performance of iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G, not to mention the fact that the iPhone 3G didn't get all of the features that came with iOS 4 in the first place.

According to Wofford's complaint, Apple knew that the update from iOS 3.x would turn her iPhone 3G into a "device with little more use than that of a paper weight." She also criticized Apple over the difficulty in downgrading to a previous operating system without having to become a "hacker"—indeed, it's no simple task for average users to roll back if they have already upgraded to the newest operating system.

"Even though Apple has actual knowledge of thousands of complaints from iPhone 3G/3GS consumers, Apple does not allow for those same users/consumers of third generation devices to download and re-install earlier and optimized iOS3.x operating system without resorting to 'hacker' tactics that will void Apple warranties and violate iPhone user agreements," Wofford wrote.

Wofford believes that Apple did this all to leave iPhone 3G users with unusable phones, forcing them to upgrade to the newly released iPhone 4. What's unclear is whether Wofford attempted to go to an Apple Store or call AppleCare for help on her issue before filing the lawsuit. Regardless, she accuses Apple of engaging in false advertising and unfair competition, and wants the court to give her (and other class members) restitution and damages.

On the one hand, this case seems to join the countless others filed by unsatisfied customers over iPhone-related issues. On the other, it's a somewhat new angle—the iOS 4 performance problems on iPhone 3G are pretty well documented (we've experienced them ourselves), and she does have a point that it's not easy to downgrade the OS once you've committed to upgrading. Though we wouldn't be surprised if this case ended up disappearing into the lawsuit black hole, it's possible Apple will eventually institute some sort of policy that lets people use iTunes to go back to a previous OS if they so choose.