Apple Starts Sending "Batterygate" Settlement Payments To iPhone Users In US: Report

iPhone users who filed claims for compensation due to Apple's alleged "batterygate" have started getting payments from the tech giant after the company agreed to pay up to $500 million in total to resolve a lawsuit about the issue, as per a report in Mac Rumors. It stated that some people had noticed $92.17 (approximately Rs 7,600) deposited into their accounts. 

The "batterygate" issue started in 2017 in the United States when a developer revealed that some iOS 10 updates caused earlier phones, such as the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7, to slow down. Customers claimed that this gave them the false impression that their phones were almost near the end of their lifecycles and needed to be replaced or had new batteries installed. Before this, Apple had not disclosed the reason for the slowdown, however, they stated that it was intended to prevent phones from abruptly switching off when the battery reached a particular threshold. Several class action lawsuits were filed, alleging that the company's actions led customers to update their phones sooner rather than just paying to have the batteries changed. In 2018, the tech giant apologised for the lack of transparency and further lowered the price of iPhone battery replacements to $29.

Apple said that its engineers responded swiftly and effectively to resolve the difficulties, attributing them mostly to consumption spikes, temperature fluctuations, and other concerns. 

In 2020, Apple denied wrongdoing and settled the nationwide case to avoid the burdens and costs of litigation. As per Reuters, the settlement covers US owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7Plus or SE that ran the iOS 10.2.1 or later operating system. It also covers users of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017. The deadline to submit a claim for payment was in October 2020.