Apple Reaches $113 Million Settlement With U.S. States Over iPhone Throttlegate
Once Apple was caught red-handed, it apologized, issued the iOS 10.2.1 update with Battery Health functionality, and started offering battery replacements on its iPhones for a low $29. Unfortunately for Apple, that wasn't the end of the matter. Over the summer a number of states -- spearheaded by Arizona -- decided to action against Apple for anti-consumer practices related to slowing down iPhone 6, iPhone 7, and iPhone SE devices. Rather than go forward with litigation, all parties -- which had grown to include a total of 33 states -- has come to an agreement.
In total, Apple has agreed to pay $113 million to settle its beef with the U.S. states. The cash settlement will be dispersed among the states that were part of the coalition, with California seeing the largest share of the pie with $24.6 million (since it had the most users affected by the performance throttling). Arizona in comparison got a paltry $5 million for its troubles, with Texas seeing $7.6 million.
“Big Tech companies must stop manipulating consumers and tell them the whole truth about their practices and products,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in a statement. “I’m committed to holding these goliath technology companies accountable when they conceal important information from users.”
It should be noted that this latest settlement is completely separate from the $500 settlement that Apple agreed to back in July. That settlement pertained only to customers of affected iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, or iPhone SE devices. They were eligible to receive up to $25 per device. Unfortunately, the claims period for that settlement ended on October 6th if you were thinking about cashing in.
