Apple Will Pay $500M USD to Settle iPhone Performance Throttling Lawsuit
Almost three years after admitting that it slowed down older iPhone models.
Apple has tentatively agreed to pay a lawsuit settlement of $500 million USD in regards to its performance throttling controversy from late 2017.
According to reports, the proposed class-action settlement covers the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone SE that ran iOS 1o.2.1 or above, along with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or above before December 21, 2017. Apple will be required to pay these users $25 USD per iPhone — the price varying depending on how many iPhone units are qualified — amounting to a minimum total payout of $310 million USD. If the payments exceed the $500 million USD cap, each iPhone owner will receive a smaller payout.
Court papers reveal that Apple denied any misconduct and decided to settle the lawsuit in order to avoid the hassles of litigation. The controversy of throttling was exposed in 2017 by a then-17-year-old Tyler Barney, who discovered that Apple purposely slowed down processors on older iPhones with low battery capacity. Barney implied that this move was done to tempt users to upgrade their devices, but the tech giant greatly disputed the claim.
In related news, Apple is reopening its factories in China amidst Coronavirus fears.
