Apple initially agreed to pay a financial settlement of $500 million after acknowledging the slowdown of older phones. This category includes people who purchased any product from the iPhone 6 or iPhone 7 lineup, which Apple reduced the performance on these phones to preserve this battery life. The settlement will provide small payments to many iPhone owners in the United States, in addition to larger compensation for members of the attorney class.
As Bloomberg Law notes, the settlement was filed in a California court last Friday and is awaiting final court approval. The call — which took months to negotiate — will resolve dozens of class actions filed between 2017 and 2018 against Apple, and will later be combined into a single complaint.
Apple will pay between $310 million and $500 million
By default, Apple will offer $25 to any current or former owner of an iPhone, and will allocate about $90 million to lawyers. The minimum payment is $310 million, so the payment may increase if more people submit claims to the company.
Details of the case when, in 2017, Apple reduced the performance of some of its phones. Some technicians claim that the aim of this process is to force users to buy new phones, as iPhone users discovered that the iOS system limits processor speeds in old phones, while Apple explains that the aim of this was to stop real problems related to performance, as it reduces pressure on the battery and can prevent sudden shutdowns of phones.
But Apple didn’t disclose the feature’s existence, leading people to believe their phones were simply slowing down as they got older. In lawsuits filed against Apple, users claimed they bought entirely new devices to solve the problem — but if they had known about this feature before, they might have replaced the battery instead.
The French and Italian authorities have already charged Apple due to the ongoing dispute, as France announced a fine of 25 million euros last month. The US Department of Justice also announced an investigation in 2018. Apple also reduced the cost of replacing batteries and offered a partial refund to some iPhone owners who paid for a new battery.
