Apple begins ‘Batterygate’ payments to iPhone owners

Users of Apple’s best-selling iPhone of all time are already receiving payments of $92.17

Apple has begun making payments to iPhone customers as part of a $500 million settlement resulting from the so-called “batterygate” scandal.

The US tech giant agreed to pay half a billion dollars to settle the class action lawsuit in 2020, however the payment process has been delayed due to various appeals.

Accusations of battery throttling first emerged in 2016, with the controversy earning the moniker Batterygate. It saw owners of older iPhone models accuse Apple of intentionally limiting the performance of their smartphones.

Apple initially dismissed the accusations of planned obsolescence by claiming the issue was a manufacturing defect.

The world’s most valuable company later acknowledged that it had implemented software performance controls in an effort to prevent older devices with degraded batteries from unexpectedly shutting down.

The resulting class action lawsuit, which began in 2017, involved owners of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 range. At the time of the settlement, it was estimated that users would receive around $25 per claim, however the figure appears to be nearly quadruple that.

Apple news site MacRumours reported that at least two individuals have received payments of $92.17 per claim.

Apple customers who owned an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, or SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 are eligible for a portion of the settlement.

The number of users affected is unclear, though the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were the most popular iPhone models of all time with more than 222 million units sold worldwide since its 2014 release. The handset was also impacted by other issues, with a tendency to bend under hard pressure earning it another -gate suffix dubbed ‘Bendgate’.

Claims for the class action ‘Batterygate’ lawsuit can be submitted using a form online or sending one by mail, though no specific dates for compensation have been officially stated.

“Based on the timeline set forth in the Settlement Agreement, we anticipate distribution should occur sometime in January 2024,” stated a website that tracks the settlement claims and offers support for anyone impacted.