FOLLOW US

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) agreed to pay $113 million to settle a multistate lawsuit regarding its previous practice of throttling the speeds of older iPhones to extend battery life.

Consumers called the practice a “battery gate” as they believed Apple intentionally throttled their iPhones to encourage them to upgrade to a newer or latest model. The controversy prompted the tech giant to apologize to consumers, provided a lengthy explanation about the iPhone battery and performance, and offered a $29 battery replacement.

However, that did not stop consumers to file a class-action lawsuit and attorney generals in more than 30 states to investigate and sue Apple over the battery gate. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich led the multistate lawsuit against the iPhone maker.

Brnovich and his fellow attorneys general said their investigation found Apple knew that battery issues were causing iPhones to shut down unexpectedly. Instead of disclosing the problem to consumers, the tech giant opted to conceal it and release a software update in 2016 to reduce the performance of older iPhones. In other words, it deliberately throttled iPhone speeds to prevent the unexpected shutdown.

The state attorney general alleged that Apple sold more iPhones and made profits by concealing the battery issues and throttling the performance of older devices.

In a statement, Brnovich said, “Big Tech companies must stop manipulating consumers and tell them the whole truth about their practices and products. I’m committed to holding these goliath technology companies accountable when they conceal important information from users.”

In addition to the $113 million monetary payment, Apple agreed to provide truthful information to consumers about iPhone battery health, performance, and power management. The tech giant also agreed to provide this important information through its website, update installation notes, and in the iPhone user interface itself.

Apple recently agreed to pay as much as $500 million in consumer restitution to settle the class-action lawsuit related to the matter

A U.S. owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device that ran iOS 10.2.1 and/or a U.S. owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017, is eligible to benefits under the class action settlement.

----------------------------------------

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it's newsworthy, we'll follow up on it.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions – check out our writer's guidelines here.