Apple has initiated the process of distributing the damages as per the settlement agreement reached in the 2017 US class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Apple intentionally slowed down certain older iPhone models. Each claimant is receiving a payment of approximately $92 from Apple.
According to a report by MacRumors, many individuals have already received payments of $92.17 each from Apple. One user, who goes by the handle mbrkhrdt on Twitter, shared that they have received six such payments from the tech giant. In the United States alone, Apple is expected to pay out a total of $310 million in damages. Similar legal claims in other countries such as the United Kingdom are still in progress.
The controversy began in December 2017 when Apple admitted to releasing software updates that intentionally slowed down older iPhones. The company explained that this measure was implemented to prevent sudden shutdowns in devices experiencing cold temperatures or battery issues caused by degradation or insufficient charging. Following this admission, a group of five Americans filed a lawsuit against Apple. Any US user with an impacted iPhone 6 series device or the first generation SE running iOS 10.2.1 or later, as well as an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus with iOS 11.2 or later, had the opportunity to participate in the lawsuit from December 2017 to October 2020.
Apple maintained its innocence throughout the legal proceedings but eventually agreed to settle the class action lawsuit for a total of $500 million in 2020, citing a desire to avoid further litigation costs and complexities. Initially, Apple had indicated that affected users would receive $25 in compensation per iPhone, but the final payout amount turned out to be $92 per claim. While this marks the first instance of Apple compensating consumers for this particular issue, the company had previously been fined 25 million euros in 2020 by the French competition and consumer watchdog agency for failing to inform customers about the potential performance degradation caused by the iOS 10.2.1 and 11.2 updates.
English (US)