Apple to pay $113 mn to US states over iPhone battery complaints
Updated | By AFP
Apple has agreed to pay $113 million to settle litigation with more than 30 US states over its slowdown in performance of older iPhones to manage battery power.
The latest "batterygate" settlement will divide the settlement among California and 33 other states, according to a statement by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
The settlement resolves complaints that the tech giant made misrepresentations about iPhone batteries and software updates that throttled processing performance to manage insufficient battery power, according to the state official.
"Apple withheld information about their batteries that slowed down iPhone performance, all while passing it off as an update," said Becerra.
"This type of behavior hurts the pockets of consumers and limits their ability to make informed purchases. Today's settlement ensures consumers will have access to the information they need to make a well-informed decision when purchasing and using Apple products."
The settlement resolves complaints about Apple's iPhone 6 and 7 generation phones which according to the states' complaint were susceptible to performance loss.
Apple had no immediate comment on the matter.
ALSO READ:
Repo rate 'taking a breather', kept steady at 3.5%
This is the second consecutive time the central bank has kept rates steady. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met for the final time in 2020 on Wednesday and Thursday. Announcing the MPCs decision to hold rates steady, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the central bank is "taking a breather".
In the court documents, the iPhone maker said it agreed to the payout "solely for the purposes of settlement," without any admission of wrongdoing.
Earlier this year Apple agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over the same issue.
In December 2017, Apple admitted that iOS software was tweaked to slow performance of older iPhones whose battery life was deteriorating to prevent handsets from spontaneously shutting down.
Critics accused Apple of surreptitiously forcing users to buy phones sooner than necessary, and the outcry forced Apple to upgrade its software and offer steep discounts on battery replacements.
Apple also settled a case with France's consumer watchdog to pay 25 million euros ($27.4 million) in a related case.
French prosecutors opened an inquiry in January 2018 at the request of the Halt Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association.
Show's Stories
-
This is the cause of 80% of SA road accidents
South Africa has a high rate of road traffic accidents, and here are som...
Breakfast with Martin Bester 4 minutes ago -
The end of sleepovers? Why parents are not keen on them
Sleepovers have become a very contentious point in the parenting world.
The Drive with Rob & Roz 11 hours ago