Apple pays first damages in US for slowing down production of older iPhones

Apple has started paying promised damages in the 2017 US class action lawsuit. The company was accused of deliberately slowing down certain older iPhone models. Apple pays out about $92 per claim.

MacRumors writes that several readers have received payments of $92.17 per claim from Apple. The site takes as an example a post from a user who has received six payments from the iPhone manufacturer. In total, the company would pay at least $310 million in damages in the US alone. Similar claims in other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, are ongoing.

Apple confirmed in December 2017 that it had released updates that deliberately made the software of older iPhones slower. The manufacturer indicated that this process is intended to prevent them from suddenly failing. Slowing down occurs if the smartphone is too cold or if the battery cannot supply enough voltage due to degradation or insufficient charge. Not long after that confirmation, five Americans filed a lawsuit against Apple. Any US user with an affected phone from the iPhone 6 series and the first SE running iOS 10.2.1 or later, and/or an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus with iOS 11.2 or later, was able to join and was able to join between December 2017 and submit a claim in October 2020.

Apple denied any wrongdoing, but nevertheless decided to settle a total of $500 million in 2020, saying it wanted to avoid the costs and hassle of further lawsuits. At the time, Apple spoke of compensation of $25 per iPhone, but that ultimately became $92. Although this is the first time that the company has paid out compensation to consumers for this issue, in 2020 the company already had to pay a fine of 25 million euros to the French version of the Consumer & Markets Authority, because Apple deliberately did not inform its customers that the update to iOS 10.2.1 and 11.2 could degrade the performance of their smartphones.

Nice thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning — especially after 3.5 years of waiting! pic.twitter.com/hqfBV25M6s

—Michael Burkhardt (@mbrkhrdt) January 6, 2024