APPLE has initiated the disbursement of funds in a long-running class action lawsuit centred on allegations of intentionally slowing down specific iPhones in the US.

Those who filed complaints will be entitled to a portion of the $550 million settlement, amounting to approximately $92 per claim, BBCNews reported.

In 2020, Apple reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit, asserting its denial of any wrongdoing but expressing concerns about the escalating costs of prolonged legal proceedings. A parallel case in the United Kingdom (UK) is currently pursuing £1.6 billion in compensation.

The origins of the US lawsuit trace back to December 2017, when Apple acknowledged a longstanding suspicion held by phone owners. The company admitted to intentionally slowing down certain iPhones as they aged, citing the diminishing performance of aging batteries. According to Apple, this deliberate ‘slowdown’ was implemented to extend the overall lifespan of the phones.

However, it was still accused of regulating the performance of certain iPhones without informing customers on prior basis, and the backlash resulted in Apple offering a ‘cut-price battery replacement’ to fix the problem.

The situation resulted in legal proceedings in the US. Initially, during the settlement phase, there were estimates suggesting that each complainant might receive as little as $25. However, the final pay-out exceeded those projections, amounting to nearly four times that sum for each person.

Apple previously called the lawsuit ‘baseless’ and said “we have never - and would never - do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades”.In contrast to the US settlement, which specifically covered devices within the iPhone6 and 7 series, the legal action in the UK also aims to secure compensation for customers owning iPhone8, 8 Plus, and X devices.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024