San Francisco: Apple will pay nearly $25 to affected iPhone users – mainly owners of iPhone 6, 7 and SE devices – as part of the $500 million class-action settlement in a case which involved slowing down older iPhones with a battery software update in 2017.
The preliminary proposed class-action settlement still requires approval by the US district judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, reports said.
If you owned an iPhone that suffered from performance throttling — iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7Plus or SE, running iOS 10.2.1 prior to December 21, 2017 — you are entitled for the claim.
Apple admitted in 2017 that the software update slowed down certain iPhone models with degraded batteries. The iPhone maker said that the update was necessary to prevent unexpected shutdowns and preserve the life of the devices.
However, the Cupertino-based tech giant also apologised for not communicating to users properly and offered affected customers cut-price iPhone battery replacements.
France’s consumer fraud group earlier last month imposed a 25 million-euros fine on Apple for deliberately slowing down certain older iPhone models.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF), which is part of the country’s economy ministry, concluded that Apple had failed to inform users that iOS updates to older iPhones could slow down their devices.
“We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologise,” Apple had said in a statement.
Apple also reduced the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 from $79 to $29 for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced.
