Apple settles lawsuits alleging it purposefully slowed down iPhones.

In a class action lawsuit that has been going on for a long time, Apple has started making settlements in response to allegations that it purposefully slowed down some iPhones in the United States.

A portion of a settlement of $500 million (£394 million) will be distributed to complainants, which amounts to around $92 (£72) for each claim.

Apple stated at the time that it denied any wrongdoing but was concerned about the cost of prolonged litigation, and therefore decided to settle the claim in the year 2020.

A lawsuit that is quite similar to this one is now being heard in the United Kingdom, and it is seeking compensation for £1.6 billion.

The issue in the United States dates back to December 2017, when Apple admitted that it had purposefully slowed down some iPhones as they became older, so confirming a long-held belief among phone users.

In the article, it was said that when batteries aged, their performance was reduced, and as a result, the “slowdown” increased the lifespan of the phones.

However it was accused of restricting the performance of specific iPhones without informing its users, and as a consequence of the outrage, Apple offered a battery replacement at a reduced price to remedy the issue.

It resulted in legal action being taken by the United States. At the time of the settlement, it was projected that each individual may get as low as $25 apiece; however, it appears that the real payout is approximately four times that amount.

In November of last year, Apple was unsuccessful in its attempt to prevent a mass action case of a similar nature from being filed in the United Kingdom.

An estimated 24 million iPhone users are represented by this case, which was initially brought up by Justin Gutmann in June of 2022.

In a prior statement, Apple referred to the complaint as “baseless” and stated, “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 upgrades.”

Mr. Gutmann expressed his satisfaction to the BBC that payments were being paid in the United States, but he cautioned that this did not have any influence on the situation in the United Kingdom.

“It doesn’t advance our position here, they haven’t admitted anything – they’ve settled,” according to him.

It is a triumph for morality, but it is not of much use to me. I won’t give up and will continue to pursue the lawsuit under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.

Apple is “fighting tooth and nail” against the UK class action, which will next come before the Court of Appeal, which will examine a petition from the company to suspend the case. He stated that Apple was “fighting tooth and nail” against the class action.

He stated that it was tough to set a date on what would happen next, but he holds out hope that it would go to trial in the latter half of 2024 or the early part of 2025.