Apple is sending Batterygate settlement payments to iPhone users in the U.S

Did Apple send $92.17 to your bank account? It's not a random gift out of generosity, the company is sending the settlement payments to iPhone users who had filed for a Batterygate class action claim.

Apple starts sending Batterygate settlement payments

For those who are unaware, some iPhone users filed a lawsuit in 2017 with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. They had accused Apple of deliberately slowing old iPhone models, when new models were launched. Several other users joined in what became a class action lawsuit against the Cupertino company.

The plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit had said that Apple had degraded the performance of their devices, without obtaining their consent to do so, and that the company had not given them an option to use their iPhones normally. This led to the Batterygate moniker being associated with the case.

As MacRumors reports, Apple had introduced a power management system in iOS 10.2.1 and iOS 11.2, to throttle the maximum performance of some iPhone models. It had done so to prevent the devices from shutting down unexpectedly. The affected devices were as follows: iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, and the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The problem is, neither of these iOS updates had mentioned that the performance of the devices would be affected after installing the software.

While the company did not deny that older devices can become slower in terms of performance, Apple had argued that it had implemented the power management feature to deliver the best performance, and prolong the life of older iPhones with degraded Lithum-ion batteries, especially in cold conditions. The plaintiffs, class action members and other users found these explanations unsatisfactory. Apple apologized for the lack of transparency about the issue, and offered a temporary discount for iPhone battery replacements in 2018.

A website dedicated to the class action lawsuit has more details about the case and the settlement. It also mentions that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Apple. Instead, the company had agreed to the settlement to avoid burdensome and costly litigation.

The settlement payments are being issued to users in the U.S. who had submitted a claim before the deadline, which was in October 2020. So if you had an eligible device (mentioned above), and had filed a claim before the deadline, you would get the $92.17 in your bank account. If you didn't submit a claim, you will not get the settlement payment. If you had multiple phones that were affected by the issue and filed claims for each, you should receive a settlement for each of those devices.

(image courtesy: reddit)

A few people who had filed a claim say they didn't get the money. One user mentions that they had chosen a mailed check for their claim, so they would likely get it via post. You may want to check your email inbox to see if you have a claim confirmation email from the following email address: "Confirmation@smartphoneperformancesettlement.com", with the subject "Claim completed for the Smartphone Performance Settlement. The email would mention the routing method that you chose when you filed the claim.

Did you get the payment settlement from Apple?

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