Apple agreed to pay up to USD 500 million to slow down iPhones

Apple agreed to pay up to USD 500 million to slow down iPhones

Apple e agreed to pay up to $ 500 million to settle a class action lawsuit for complaints in which the company is accused of deliberately slowing downolder iPhone phonesfor users to exchange them for newer models.

Thus, a federal judge in the state of California, who presides over the class action lawsuit process, will be asked to approve the proposed settlement at a hearing in early April, according to a judicial appeal filed on Friday. The proposed agreement requires Apple to pay at least $ 310 million and up to a cap of 500 million to compensate affected US iPhone owners , as well as to pay plaintiffs' attorneys.

In this sense, the owners behind the original class action lawsuit will receive between 1,500 and 3,500 dollars each, and their lawyers, 90 million in total, all this money is part of the package of 310 to 500 million accepted by Apple .

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The dispute focuses on stealthy changes of the operating system with the supposed purpose of avoiding “involuntary shutdowns”. In December 2017, Apple admitted having modified the iOS, the operating system present in its mobile devices, to reduce the performance of older iPhone models whose batteries were deteriorating and thus prevent phones from spontaneously shutting down.

Critics accused Apple of surreptitiously forcing users to buy phones sooner than necessary, and the claim forced the California company to update its software and offer great discounts on battery replacement.

Consumers who will be able to obtain this compensation are users in the United States with an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone SE, as well as users who used iOS 11.2 or earlier. from December 21, 2017.

In 2018, Apple launched a feature that allowed users to disable the slowdown of their iPhones devices. At that time, Apple addressed a letter to its customers asking for forgiveness for the "misunderstanding" generated around the slowdown of the iPhone and offered discounts for users who wanted to change the battery of their phone.

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