Apple Customers Will Soon Get Share of $500 Million Settlement
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal challenging the historic agreement with Apple to settle a nationwide class action based on allegations that Apple issued software updates that slowed down the performance of iPhones. That clears the way for customers to soon receive their payments.
Under the settlement, Apple agreed to pay a minimum of $310 million and up to $500 million in cash compensation for those battery issues. The payouts will go to affected users who filed claims against the tech giant in 2020 for an issue that became known as “batterygate.”
Consumers began complaining about the poor performance of their devices’ batteries in 2016. Instead of fixing the battery defect, Apple produced a software update that slowed the performance of the mobile phones once installed. The plaintiffs say that Apple hid the true purpose of the update because they wanted to increase sales.
If you filed a claim, you can expect to receive roughly $65 from Apple. But it could could be higher, as much as $85 or even $128. The higher amount is based on a legal document, which shows that about 3.3 million iPhone users submitted claims prior to the deadline.
Payments will go out to owners of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus and SE models running iOS 10.2.1 or later and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus running iOS 11.2 or later. But those owners must have filed claims before the Oct. 6, 2020 deadline. It’s still unclear when exactly eligible users will receive their checks.
In late 2020, Apple also agreed to pay another $113 million in a settlement with 34 states and the District of Columbia over the same battery issues.
