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. Elizabeth Dennis says:

    Had/Have about 4-5 iPhones on my Sprint Family Account, as much as these phones cost they should work better than they do, recently went in to sprint bc my phone wouldn’t come on after it did a automatically update I thought it was the charger but Tec said the battery wasn’t strong enough for the upgrade 13.?, he changed battery but told me not to do any updates, what kind of mess is that, I think they set that up that way so you can purchase another phone, but as I informed him I wasn’t buying a new one they can cut the service off, so that’s when he changed the battery, it works just not as I expected for the cost of these iPhones, Please Add me. Thanks.

  2. Brittney says:

    I’m having the same issue as well I sent my iPhone 6s into Apple repair shop twice and I’m still having the same problem. Add me too.

  3. Tammy Nash says:

    Add me

  4. Terrie Schulz says:

    I have iPhone 6 Plus being a single mom I couldn’t afford one but boyfriend was kind enough to buy me one . I have had a lot of trouble can’t hear had battery replaced takes forever to do anything on it and I’m lucky if it charges I have to use different chargers hang it upside down all kinds of crazy. Please please add me.

  5. Aaron says:

    I had to buy 4 new phones my iPhone 7 Plus was slow and junk. Bent first week I had it. The Verizon guy say yea there bad. They were all slow. My XR is fine now. The battery life was junk on the others. Took forever and couldn’t play the games I wanted too. I want what I paid for the other 4 phones back. Apple needs to take care of me and the rest of the people they misled.

  6. Pamela Mathis says:

    We had to replace two iphones because of this. Extra money we didn’t have!

  7. Geneva York says:

    I have a 7 Plus and wondered why it would it freeze all the time and was so slow now I know. I have hated this phone since I bought it

  8. Buffy Reynolds says:

    Yes, all my iPhones have been this way. My iPhone 6 Plus being the absolute worse after the very first update I did on it.

  9. Teri Simmons says:

    After my phone was paid off the speakers started malfunctioning and The phone was slowing down I called about the problem and was told there where problems with a tower. And would clear up. But it never did. Anytime I use my speaker no one could hear me. I upgraded to IPhone XR and I really didn’t want to pay for a new phone but I did. Please add me to the suite.

  10. Renee Givens says:

    Add me just had to upgrade my phone because of this. More money out my pocket!

    1. ashley nelson says:

      Yes! Add me. I have upgraded to two different iPhones thinking they would be better than the one before. But nope. Now I know why.

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