Apple to Pay Extra $113M for Throttling Older iPhones

Apple has already agreed to pay $500 million to owners of old iPhones. This settlement came after a class action lawsuit that claimed the company internationally throttled speeds and didn’t disclose battery issues in older models. 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 update 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 by compelling users to buy new ones instead of just replacing batteries.

Now Apple has agreed to pay another $113 million to 34 states and the District of Columbia over the same issues. They agreement settles allegations that it broke consumer protection laws when it systematically downplayed widespread iPhone battery problems in 2016. The states attorneys general had sued Apple for hiding both the throttling and battery degradation from iPhone owners, arguing that Apple “fully understood” that by concealing the issues. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich led the multistate investigation, which showed that Apple was quite aware of the scale of the issue and the shortcomings of its solution.

Brnovich and his fellow AGs alleged that Apple violated various consumer protection laws, such as Arizona’s Consumer Fraud Act, by “misrepresenting and concealing information” regarding the iPhone battery problems and the irreversible negative consequences of the update it issued to fix them.

In addition to the cash settlement, Apple must “provide truthful information to consumers about iPhone battery health, performance and power management” in various ways. Apple has already implemented these changes a few years ago, but the details are still included in such agreements to hopefully prevent companies from repeating the same tactics in the future.

As for the $500 million settlement, payouts have not been finalized yet and a hearing is scheduled for December. Those who have already filed claims, should receive a $25 payout sometime next year. It’s too late to file claims now if you haven’t dome so already. This new $113 million settlement doesn’t provide any money for consumers.