Emily Sortor  |  March 4, 2020

Category: Cellphones

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iPhone update screenA $500 million settlement has been reached between Apple and customers to resolve a multidistrict litigation claiming that the tech giant intentionally released iPhone updates that would slow older phone models and eventually require the users to buy new phones.

Of the $500 million, attorneys for the customers have requested as much as $93 million in fees and $1.5 million in expenses.

Class Members will receive $25 each for their phones if the payments total $310 million. If the total payments made do not add up to $310 million, the settlement terms dictate that Class Members will receive up to $500 each until the total reaches $310 million. Apple has agreed to pay no more than $500 million to compensate Class Members and attorneys. 

Class Members who may be eligible for compensation include all current or former U.S. owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and SE smart phones, whose devices ran iOS 10.2.1 or later (for iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE devices) or iOS 11.2 or later (for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus devices), and who ran these iOS versions before Dec. 21, 2017.

Now, the company and customers await preliminary approval for their settlement, the hearing for which is set for April 3, 2020. The settlement was reached with the help of retired Judge Layn R. Phillips of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. 

Representatives for the iPhone owners spoke favorably of the settlement, calling the settlement “fair, reasonable, and adequate” to Class Members and arguing that it presents “substantial benefits.”

The iPhone MDL consolidated multiple class action lawsuits across the country. In these Apple iPhone class action lawsuits, customers claimed that the company intentionally created iPhone updates that would slow down older models of the phone and intentionally released them close to the release of a new iPhone model.

Allegedly, these updates could slow the functions of the older iPhones so much that customers could no longer use the phones. According to the iPhone class action lawsuits, many customers were effectively forced into purchasing a new phone because their older iPhone no longer worked.

The customers argued that Apple was unjustly enriched by this practice and claimed that the practice harmed consumers financially. The class action lawsuits were later combined into a multidistrict litigation. This iPhone MDL survived a dismissal bid by Apple, despite having some claims trimmed by a judge in the process.

Do iPhone updates slow down your phone? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

Class Members are represented by Mark Molumphy and Joseph W. Cotchett of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP, and David A. Straite and Laurence D. King of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP.

The Apple iPhone Slow Down MDL is In re: Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, Case No. 5:18-md-02827, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

UPDATE: July 2020, the Apple iPhone performance class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

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1,212 thoughts oniPhone Throttling MDL Ends With $500M Settlement

  1. Mildred Baker says:

    Add me please purchased 4 phones

  2. Benita Densmore says:

    My iphone6s plus was terrible. UpdAtes ate my battery up. Add me plz

  3. Benita Densmore says:

    My iphone6s plus was terrible. UpdAtes are my battery up. Add me plz

  4. Kristy Tinsley says:

    My iPhone 7 and my husbands IPhone 7 have gotten so slow it’s rediculous! I feel like we waisted our money and am more than frustrated. Apple doesn’t help us nor does the Metro/T-Mobile store we bought them from. Not sure we will ever purchase another one again. Mine is not even usable. Need to purchase new one. And believe me it is difficult without a cell.

  5. Josephine Walsh says:

    Add me.

  6. Dawn says:

    Add me please

  7. Jodi Shumate says:

    FINALLY! I have had the worst experience with my iPhone 7 Plus being so slow that I would have to reset my phone every other day. I have data logs of me speaking with AT&T reps freaking daily because of my phone being slow. I knew they were doing this to make us spend more money and I just paid off my 7. I shouldn’t be forced into upgrading, please add me!

  8. Buffy Reynolds says:

    Yes. My iPhone 6 Plus was the worse now I have the 7 plus. Issues with both. Please add me.

  9. Michael Estrada says:

    Add me
    didn’t know this but my daughter did an I just thought she wanted an upgrade…

  10. sky says:

    heres some more added news, Im a bsee and my wife and I both bought our iphones from the apple store at the same time ,hers a iphone 6 and mine a iphone6 se. My wife did one of there updates (which you cannot turn off) and with in days the battery life shorten from till charge held to less than 9 hours, called apple had to bring it in and have the battery replaced. Went to the apple store where they took the phone in to replace the battery , hour later they brought it out said it all it needed. I asked the tech for our old battery back, he refused . I told him that i own that battery and usless your giving a allowance to keep it return it. he wouldnt do it..I opened the phone at home and looked at the battery it was the same one that came with the phone because I was going replace. I reported this the AG here. gets better do you know what the odds are of having two phones have the battery go out in them about the same time? (Remember Im a engineer) this problem with mine started right after the update, operation time was down to about 8-9 hours, I reversed the date and phone went back to normal usage and time. Apple hasnt responded to the theft and fraud that came from their store. In Arkansas the state law requires anyone who directly services a owners equipment must give the parts to the ownere that they have replaced and give them the choice of what to do with them.
    I called the store back to tell them they never replaced it

    1. dale says:

      add me too times thee phones

    2. Elizabeth Smith says:

      I had to purchase another iPhone of the same make and model due to the updates we are required to run completely jacking me of all my memory. If I didn’t update then my phone wouldn’t run properly and malfunctions and uploads would be incomplete and my system would run with glitches. My phone continues to run slower and slower with every added update. I had to purchase double the GB just to have a phone with more life.

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