Apple starts to pay out customers over ‘slowed down’ iPhones

Tech giant Apple has started to make payments in relation to a law case alleging it had been “slowing down” some phones as they aged.

Tech giant Apple has started to make payments in relation to a law case alleging it had been “slowing down” some phones as they aged.

The lawsuit in question was settled in 2020. While Apple denied any wrongdoing, at the time it said it wanted to avoid the cost associated with continuing the court fight.

As a result, it agreed to a settlement of about $750 million, which will yield a payout of roughly $135 per person involved in the class action suit. The deadline for registering passed in October of 2020 - so if you haven’t already done so, no cash for you.

The case, launched in the United States, goes back to 2017. As part of the action, Apple confirmed that it had slowed down phones as their batteries aged without telling customers - the argument being that it would increase their lifespan.

The Apple logo at a store in Washington D.C. Picture: Nicholas Kamm/AFP

A similar case, with a potential payout of more than a billion dollars, is currently active in the United Kingdom. Apple tried and failed to block that lawsuit in 2023.

“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 updgrades,” the company said as part of that lawsuit.

Justin Gutmann, who brought the UK case in 2022, told the BBC the payouts in America had little bearing on his own effort.

“It doesn’t advance our position here. They haven’t admitted anything. They’ve settled,” he told the broadcaster.

“It’s a moral victory, but not of much use to me. I’ve got to plough on and pursue the case in the UK jurisdiction.”

An iPhone 14 on display in California. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via AFP

Apple’s argument is that slowing down its phones kept them running for a longer period of time. However users have expressed unhappiness with the company for failing to disclose its policy - pushing them to upgrade to a new phone or replace their batteries.

The same arrangement still exists with the current generation of Apple phone, thought now it is fully disclosed, and users have the option to disable it.