Apple 'Batterygate' plaintiffs receive $92 compensation

Users report receiving payouts

Almost seven years after suing Apple, customers with iPhones affected by the "Batterygate" scandal are starting to receive payouts from the tech giant.

The settlement is the result of a class action lawsuit in the US, which was filed in December 2017.

Eligible recipients include US buyers of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7 and 7 Plus owners who ran specific iOS versions before certain dates, who filed a claim before October 2020.

It is estimated that 2.2 million claims for compensation were approved before deduplication.

The 2017 lawsuit followed an admission by Apple that it had deliberately throttled the performance of some iPhone models when their batteries ran low.

The company had initially claimed slowdowns were due to a battery manufacturing fault, but later changed its story, saying it was a deliberate measure to prevent unexpected shutdowns. But it was accused of operating a policy of planned obsolescence, deliberately slowing users phones to nudge them towards upgrading to a newer model.

Either way, Apple did not inform its customers about its new power control measures, and it was this lack of transparency that led to the class action lawsuit in the US.

Apple settled the case in 2020 for $500 million, but payouts were delayed pending several appeals. Finally, this month, users are starting to receive compensation. MacRumors reports that two customers have received compensation of $92.17 (£72.53) each. Original estimates put payouts at around $25, so that represents a big jump, although 2.2 million x 92.17 comes to around 200 million, much less than the $500 million settlement.

Apple's self-inflicted problems with its unannounced power management system problems are not over, though.

In November 2023, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), ruled that a £1.6 billion ($2 billion) lawsuit over Batterygate, brought by consumer activist Justin Gutmann on behalf of up to 24 million UK iPhone users, could go ahead.

Apple had described the case as "baseless" and sought to have it thrown out.

South Korea has also ruled against Apple over the issue.