Apple is expected to soon begin making payments to iPhone users who were affected by 2017’s “Batterygate.” The iPhone-maker settled a class-action lawsuit in 2020, and the money is finally going out.
Those who owned an iPhone back then, and who filed a claim several years ago, should receive about $65.
iPhone ‘Batterygate’ checks should go out soon
The beginning of payouts to users would come close to ending problems resulting from Apple not telling customers it was throttling the performance of older iPhones to prevent the devices from unexpectedly shutting down.
A hurdle holding back the money has been resolved. Two of the plaintiffs asked the court to change the terms of the settlement, but have recently been denied, according to the law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, which acted as co-lead counsel along with Kaplan Fox. That appears to have cleared the way for the payments to start going out.
Apple is on the hook for up to $500 million. This will go out in $65 payments to customers who owned an iPhone 6, iPhone 6s or iPhone 7 back in 2017. But getting any portion of the settlement required putting in a request before October 6, 2020.
A black eye for Apple
In 2017, Apple admitted that it surreptitiously slowed down aging iPhone models. Otherwise, the devices could crash when their processors required more power than their nearly worn-out batteries could deliver, the company said.
An iOS update released in 2018 ended the automatic throttling of older devices. However, it gave users of those iPhones the option to do so themselves, especially if their handsets crashed because of an aging battery.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
