Back in late 2017, benchmarks suggested that Apple might have been slowing down older models of iPhones. It contradicted a previous study that was unable to confirm such a behavior of Cupertino company.
The #batterygate was born and a few days later, Apple admitted and apologized for slowing down iPhones, along with discounting replacement batteries. But that was not the end. Later down the road, the online backlash against the company escalated into multiple class-action lawsuits, extending beyond the U.S.
Among the affected devices were the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus and iPhone SE (all running iOS 10.2.1 or later), and iPhone 7 or 7 Plus (running iOS 11.2 or later).
This week, the first owners of these devices received the financial compensation that was part of the biggest settlement in regard to the Batterygate, MacRumors reports. The sum received for a single claim – an affected device – is $92.17.
As part of the 2020 settlement, Apple agreed to pay $310 million to $500 million in compensation and legal expenses, with the final amount based on the number of submitted claims by the iPhone owners. As per previous reports, the number of claims is somewhere between 2.2 to around three million.
The slowdowns were caused by iOS over-the-air updates, but Apple was adamant in its defense and refused any purposeful wrongdoing. The manufacturer has explained that the reason behind slowing down some phones was battery degradation, and an attempt to prevent unexpected shutdowns.
“With the update, iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown. While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance,” admitted Apple at the time.
Although sounding reasonable at first, Apple was in response blamed for poor communication, and not allowing the users to simply buy a replacement battery instead of unknowingly having their devices’ performance cut.
Source: MacRumors | Image via iFixit