Apple begins paying out compensation payments for iPhone 'batterygate' claim
You may recall that Apple settled a class action lawsuit in the US in 2020 by compensating iPhone users for deliberately slowing down (or limiting) performance on older iPhones. Now those payments are being sent.
As reported by MacRumors and others: People who filed a claim for compensation with Apple will now get their $92.17 payout. The official website before the trial confirms that the last appeal was rejected in December 2023 and that payments can therefore be made from January 2024.
The payments could total up to $500 million (about £393 million or AU$746 million), depending on the number of claimants. Don't expect any money if you haven't filed a claim yet, though: the deadline for requesting compensation from Apple was October 6, 2020.
To qualify, you must have been a US-based owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device running iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and/or a US-based owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device running iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017.
Pay
As you may recall, the lawsuit was originally filed in December 2017, after Apple admitted that iOS slows down the iPhone's performance as batteries age to ensure device stability — a practice that users don't know about. were informed.
Apple's reasoning was that it was letting older iPhones run longer, but users weren't happy with the lack of transparency: a significant number of people felt like they were being forced to upgrade their iPhones, or had to order an expensive battery replacement for them . sooner than they otherwise would.
This kind of performance management is still present on iOS 17 – only now it's fully detailed and explained, and users have the option to disable it. Apple has always maintained that it was right and says it only agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid a lengthy and expensive lawsuit.
If you filed your compensation claim before the deadline in 2020, check your bank account. You may now receive a 2024 bonus payment from Apple, almost four years after the settlement agreement was reached.