IPhone users who experienced ‘Batterygate’ can now apply to receive a deal from Apple of around $ 25

Earlier this year, Apple agreed to settle an American class action lawsuit that accused the company of “secretly strangling” older iPhone models. Now, eligible iPhone owners begin to receive notifications about their legal rights and options.

Under the proposed settlement, Apple will provide a cash payment of approximately $ 25 to each eligible iPhone owner who files a claim, with a total payment of between $ 310 million and $ 500 million. The exact amount each iPhone owner receives may vary slightly based on the number of claims submitted.

Class includes any US resident who owns or has previously owned an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and / or iPhone SE running iOS 10.2.1 or later, and / or an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus running iOS 11.2 or later, prior to December 21, 2017. Class members must also have experienced “reduced performance” on their devices.

A website has been created where eligible class members can file a claim or review their other options, including excluding the lawsuit to retain the ability to sue Apple individually on the matter. All claims must be submitted online or received by mail by October 6, 2020, otherwise payment will be forfeited.

Apple has denied all allegations and is entering into this agreement to “avoid costly and expensive litigation.” The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Apple, according to the United States District Court for Northern California.

The class action lawsuit was filed in December 2017, shortly after Apple revealed that it limits the peak performance of some older iPhone models with chemically aged batteries when necessary to prevent devices from unexpectedly shutting down. The complaint described the measure as “one of the largest consumer frauds in history.”

Apple introduced this battery / performance management system in iOS 10.2.1, but did not initially mention the change in the update’s release notes. Similarly, in a statement released a month later, Apple only mentioned vague “improvements” that resulted in a significant reduction in unexpected “iPhone” closings.

Apple only revealed exactly what the so-called “enhancements” were after Primate Labs founder John Poole visualized that some ‌iPhone‌ 6s and ‌iPhone‌ 7 devices suddenly had lower benchmark scores starting with iOS 10.2.1 and iOS 11.2 respectively. , despite operating with maximum performance in the previous version.

Apple apologized for its lack of communication in December 2017 and cut the price of battery replacements to $ 29 for the ‌iPhone‌ 6 and newer until the end of 2018 to appease customers. Then Apple released iOS 11.3 with a new feature that allows users to track the health and performance status of their PiPhone‌ battery.

The performance management system has also been disabled by default since iOS 11.3, and is only enabled if an ‌iPhone‌ suffers an unexpected shutdown. Users can also manually disable performance management.

(Thanks, Ben Hurley and Oscar Falcon!)