iPhone owners who were part of the 2020 class-action lawsuit against the company should finally be receiving their piece of the payout after Apple admitted to slowing down its older phones.
With so many phones to choose from, people buy their handsets for the features, like cameras or messaging apps, or simply for the brand name. But with so much of our lives oriented around the phones we’re using all day long, the less glamorous aspect of battery life is often front and center. Especially when it’s suddenly at a very low percentage.
Owners of older iPhones noticed back in 2017 that their phones were running more slowly, and their batteries draining quickly. They were right. That same year, Apple admitted that its iOS software had slowed down the performance of older iPhones, but said there was a reason for it: As the lithium-ion batteries in the older phones aged, they didn’t hold a charge as well, and could unexpectedly shut down. The software slowed performance of those phones to prevent this, the company said.
As former CNET reporter Shara Tibken wrote, some people have long believed Apple hinders older devices to encourage customers to buy new models, which is something Apple has denied. But that belief only aggravated debate over Apple’s lack of transparency about the phone slowdowns.
The lawsuit was successful, and in August 2023, a judge cleared the way for payments to proceed. Some iPhone owners are reporting online that they are already seeing the money — here’s what to know.
How did Apple respond to the lawsuit?
The company apologized for its lack of transparency, updated its software and offered battery replacements. In 2017, the company said, “We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down,” and said it has never done anything to “intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.”
The company has a lengthy page on its site discussing iPhone performance in relation to the battery. It…
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