There was a massive controversy which took place involving Apple a few years back. This was regarding Apple’s own admission that it is slowing down older iPhones and the company’s argument was that they are slowing down its performance to reduce the damage it causes on the battery. ‘
However, this did not go down well with the tech community and iPhone users who had been saying from years that their older iPhones felt slower after years of continuous usage. Therefore, a class-action lawsuit was also filed against Apple by iPhone owners who said that Apple is slowing down older iPhone models which is the company’s way of compelling people to buy new models.
Now, it is being reported that Apple has agreed to settle this lawsuit out of court. Apple has also said that they will pay up to $500 million in order for this settlement. This settlement proposal requires Apple to pay the owners of iPhone models $25 per affected device which means a total of $310 million for all the affected iPhone users included in the lawsuit. While $310 million is the minimum, Apple can also pay a maximum of $500 million as per the settlement proposal documents.
The amount of $25 per user might also increase or decrease depending on the court’s approval of any additional legal fees and expenses which will also have to be paid by Apple.
Back when Apple admitted that it is slowing down iPhones via software updates, there was a backlash from almost the entire Apple fanbase. This meant that the company had to apologize and it also launched a battery replacement program at much-reduced prices of just $29 per replacement.
At that time, Apple CEO Tim Cook also revealed that Apple’s revenue for 2018 was partly affected due to “significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements”. If you are in the US and own an iPhone, you can also file a lawsuit against Apple provided that you own an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE device bought before December 21, 2017.
Now that the court has ordered Apple to settle the lawsuit, we are expecting to see a steep rise in lawsuits as they are guaranteed to get their compensation from the company.
