The tech giant is famous for its iPhones, iPad, and other products around the globe. However, Cupertino-based is no stranger to scandals and lawsuits. For example, several years ago, more precisely in 2017, customers realized the company was quietly throttling the speed of older iPhones. According to Apple, this was to protect those phones from aging batteries. Moreover, the company offered $29 battery replacements to regain the trust of customers.
However, the company did not manage to evade lawsuits over this issue. Earlier this year, the tech giant agreed to pay $500 million for throttling older phones. As part of the deal, many iPhone owners in the U.S. have the opportunity to get small payouts. Moreover, named class members, as well as attorneys, are eligible for greater compensation.
As a reminder, the deal covers people who bought any product in the iPhone 6 and 7 lineup. These were the products that had the issue.
Moreover, this is not the end of the story as the company reached a second settlement, this time with 34 U.S. states, that might see Apple paying an additional $113 million.
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Apple and legal aspects
It is worth noting that attorneys general of dozens of U.S. states sued the tech giant for hiding both the throttling and battery degradation from iPhone owners. According to attorneys general, the company fully understood that by concealing the issues, the company could spend a year profiting off of people who thought that they needed to buy a new iPhone.
However, they only needed to replace their phone’s battery to avoid throttling or unexpected shutdowns.
It is not surprising that Apple did not agree with their position. Moreover, the settlement means a court won’t decide whether there was any actual wrongdoing.
People should keep in mind that the settlement has not been fully approved by a judge yet, but there is a chance states might see their money sooner than iPhone owners. Interestingly, if an owner applied for his or her $25 worth of the $500 million class-action settlement, this person probably did so in July.
However, the process is still underway. Importantly, there is a fairness hearing on December 4th that will decide whether the settlement was handled properly. At the moment, Apple will pay a minimum of $310 million to settle that earlier lawsuit. Aso, the company will pay up to $500 million depending on the number of claims.
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