iPhone Throttling MDL Ends With $500M Settlement

A $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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