Apple has begun to send out payments compensating people for deliberately slowing down performance (or throttling) on older iPhones.
MacRumors reported that those who filed a claim for compensation from Apple are now receiving their payments of $92.17 (£72.60).
The settlement confirms that the last appeal was dismissed in December 2023 and that therefore payments can be issued from January 2024.
Apple will be expected to pay a minimum of $310 million (£244m) and up to $500m (£394m) in compensation for approximately 100 million iPhone users, after losing the lawsuit.
In August 2023, the tech company denied all allegations and entered into a settlement to “avoid burdensome and costly litigation”. According to the US District Court for Northern California, the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing by Apple.
What is throttling?
Apple’s software update was intended to enhance the performance of iPhones to stop the phones from shutting down unexpectedly.
But iPhone users weren’t able to disable the setting and weren’t made aware that their phone would slow as a result — which is known as throttling.
Justin Gutmann, a consumer rights campaigner, claimed that Apple did this to conceal the fact that the older iPhone batteries may have struggled to run the latest software.
Critics have claimed that slowing down older iPhone models encourages people to buy newer phones.
Here's how throttling typically works:
Battery health
As a lithium-ion battery in a smartphone ages, its capacity to hold a charge decreases. In situations where the battery health falls below a certain threshold, the device may struggle to deliver the necessary power for demanding tasks, leading to unexpected shutdowns.
Performance management
To address this issue and prevent unexpected shutdowns, Apple introduced a performance management feature in iOS. When the device detects a degraded battery, it may throttle the performance of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) to prevent demanding tasks from causing the device to shut down unexpectedly.
User notification
iOS usually provides users with a notification when the performance management feature is applied. Users are also given the option to disable this feature, though doing so might lead to more frequent unexpected shutdowns.
What is the Apple battery lawsuit?
Mr Gutmann claimed that Apple released a software update in 2017 that slowed the performance of older iPhones.
The affected phones are the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X models.
While Mr Gutmann’s case in the UK is still ongoing, the US lawsuit has now been settled, with payouts expected to be coming soon.
Mr Gutmann previously had said: “Instead of doing the honourable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58 per cent.
“I’m launching this case so that millions of iPhone users across the UK will receive redress for the harm suffered by Apple’s actions.
“If this case is successful, I hope dominant companies will re-evaluate their business models and refrain from this kind of conduct.”
What does this mean for UK consumers?
While the settlement in the US will not result in a direct payout for UK consumers, it could be a sign that Mr Gutmann’s case is also likely to succeed.
It could result in millions of payments for UK consumers, likely at a similar level to those in the US.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal would review the action and compensation for each model owned, rather than for each customer. As such, early adopters and regular upgraders could be in line for multiple payments.
If payouts are confirmed for UK customers, there will likely be forthcoming notifications of ways to apply for damages.
What has Apple said?
In a statement before the case, Apple said: “We have never, and would never, do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.
“Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.”
The tech giant had previously apologised for its lack of communication and dropped the price of battery replacements in 2018.
Apple has not publicly commented on the settlement. It had appealed, but an appeals court in the US dismissed the case.
The Evening Standard has contacted Apple for comment following the settlement.
