Apple will pay up to USD 500 million to settle California class action lawsuit for slowing iPhones

Apple pays USD 500 mln to settle California class action lawsuit for slowing iPhones
Telecompaper, 3 March 2020

(Choice of image by "Towards Better Health")
Credit: Reuters/ Regis Duvignau

Apple will pay up to USD 500 million to settle a case in the US, where consumers accused the company in a class action lawsuit of intentionally slowing down their older iPhones, Reuters reported. The preliminary settlement still requires approval by the US district judge in San Jose, California. It calls for Apple to pay plaintiffs USD 25 per phone, a number which may be adjusted up or down depending on how many iPhones are eligible, with a minimum payment of USD 310 million. Apple denied the accusations but settled the nationwide case to avoid the burdens and costs of litigation, court papers show.



The California settlement covers US owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7Plus or SE that ran the iOS 10.2.1 or later operating system. It also covers US owners of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later before Dec. 21, 2017.

The plaintiffs said the performance of their phones suffered after they installed Apple software updates. They said this misled them into believing their phones were near the end of their lifecycles, requiring replacements or new batteries. Apple attributed the problems mainly to temperature changes, high usage and other issues, and said its engineers worked quickly and successfully to address them.

Similar accusations were brought against Apple in Chicago, South Korea, Spain, Italy, and France. Apple reduced the price for replacing batteries in late 2017.

https://www.telecompaper.com/news/apple-pays-usd-500-mln-to-settle-california-class-action-lawsuit-for-slowing-iphones--1328770