Apple is set to shell out up to $500 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement, and iPhone 6, 7, and SE model owners will be eligible for compensation.
The lawsuit alleged that Apple issued software updates which slowed down the performance of their iPhones. Though the settlement was agreed upon years ago, it was caught up in appeals and court procedures. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently dismissed an appeal, paving the way for the settlement to finally be disbursed, according to an Aug. 9 press release by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, the co-lead counsel representing Apple customers in the case.
“Under the settlement, Apple agreed to pay a minimum of $310 million and up to $500 million in cash compensation,” the release said. This is the “largest all-cash recovery in a computer intrusion case in history.”
The case represented a class of approximately 100 million iPhone users.
According to the settlement website, “If you are or were a U.S. owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before Dec. 21, 2017, and/or a U.S. owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device that ran iOS 11.2 or later before Dec. 21, 2017, you could be entitled to benefits under a class-action settlement.”
However, the deadline for claiming the settlement already passed on Oct. 6, 2020. As such, no new claims can be filed.
Those who had not filed a claim will neither get any payment as part of the settlement nor will be ineligible to seek compensation for claims and allegations raised in the lawsuit.
Individuals who wanted to maintain the right to sue Apple had to “opt out” of the settlement class. The deadline for opting out was on Oct. 6, 2020.
Apple has committed to pay approximately $25 per eligible device, provided the company will not have to shell out more than $500 million in aggregate to the settlement class members.
“If the total value of approved claims submitted exceeds the $500 million ceiling, the value of each approved claim (per eligible device) will be reduced on a pro-rata basis,” the settlement website states.
“If the total value of approved claims submitted by settlement class members does not exceed the $310 million floor, the value of each approved claim (per eligible device) may be increased on a pro-rata basis, up to a maximum of $500 per device.”
According to an Aug. 15 Verge report, around three million individuals have filed for claims per attorneys representing Apple customers. If approved, claimants can receive payments of around $65.
“The settlement is the result of years of investigation and hotly contested litigation,” said Mark C. Molumphy, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, according to the release.
Apple’s $113 Million Settlement
The lawsuit which led to the settlement claimed that a performance management feature introduced in iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE devices in iOS 10.2.1, and introduced for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus devices in iOS 11.2 “diminished the performance of some of those devices,” according to the settlement website.Apple throttled chip speeds of the iPhone models so that the aging batteries on these devices would not send a power spike to the processor and cause the phone to shut down unexpectedly.
In addition to the $500 million class-action lawsuit, the company also faced a lawsuit from 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia over the issue. The states argued that Apple acted deceptively and should have either disclosed the matter or replaced the batteries.
Apple came to a $113 million settlement with the states in November 2020 and agreed that it would provide “truthful information” regarding power management on its iPhones.
Though Apple has decided to settle the $500 million class-action lawsuit, the company “denies all allegations and is entering into this settlement to avoid burdensome and costly litigation,” the settlement website states.
“The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Apple.”
Tyson C. Redenbarger, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, pointed out that the class action lawsuit was an “important case.” The lawsuit lay at the “intersection of privacy, consumer product, and computer intrusion laws,” he said, according to the Aug. 9 press release.
“The settlement provides substantial relief to Apple consumers and, going forward, will help ensure that customers are fully informed when asked to update their products.”
Apple’s settlement is one among the several multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit settlements in recent times by big U.S. corporations.
Facebook has agreed to a $725 million settlement over a lawsuit that accused the firm of sharing user data without permission. The deadline for submitting a claim in this settlement is Aug. 25.
Delta Air Lines also arrived at a settlement in a class-action lawsuit for canceling flights during the COVID-19 pandemic and not providing the passengers with a monetary refund. Instead, the company offered credits for future travel.
