Apple Agrees to Pay Up to $500 Million to Settle Class Action Lawsuit Over 'Secretly Throttling' Older iPhones

[Brandon916]

I never said that. it means Apple wants your money. Nothing else. They don’t care about you. You are $$ to them. That’s all

Yep yep. They are a corporate entity, and they've done crummy stuff before. People make it sound like they are angles. They want more of your money, that's all.

 

[russell_314]

The only people who win in this are the lawyers. Apple isn’t paying anything but rather their customers are. When you buy a product, the cost of frivolous lawsuits is added to it. Basically when you buy an Apple product a portion of the price is going to pay these lawyers

 

[summerlight]

As for my two cents, I think that Apple had the right idea when they introduced the throttling (I mean, it's really a lot like the "battery saver" modes on a lot of laptops) but the implementation was flawed in that they didn't communicate it adequately to consumers. Everything here is a big misunderstaning and could have easily been avoided if Apple had done a better job of communicating.

i'm not so sure about that, maybe i'm the only one, but i clearly remember when one of the iOS 10 versions release, the color/contrast/brightness on my lock screen wall paper was so badly changed, i tried many things to tweak the picture back to what it was but nothing help and when apple finally release the update to address the public outcry for the battery performance issue, my wallpaper magically looks normal to me again, and i don't think it's a coincident. Apple did that on purpose and push for new release phone sales.

 

[DeepIn2U]

This is a direct result of Apple's sometimes opaque communications style.

Tell people what you're up to, and why, and maybe even have some arcane way of opting out of this throttling, and not only would most people not care, but they'd be appreciative of the effort.

Be sneaky and take a "my way or the highway" approach and this is what you get.

This is both GOOD for Apple and consumers alike.

Apple engineering team will be guided on their efforts, Marketing teams will bade aware and the CEO will ensure no secret moves or non communicative moves like this happens again.

This will enforce a better respect to their users and users trust will increase from this poor move. A small blip in the grand scale of Apples decisions but it’s a effective enough.

 

[mi7chy]

I'd take a free battery placement for me 3-year old iPhone SE if they offered that as an option. Better than me paying $50 out of pocket anyway.

That would be a more fitting fine considering the root cause is defective battery so battery replacement should be one of the options. As batteries age they lose capacity and have shorter runtime but not randomly shut down. Only a defect causes random shutdowns. Apple comes out ahead if they're only fined $25 per iPhone when they turn around and charge customers $49 for battery replacement so in the end customers end up subsidizing Apple's battery defect.

 

[639051]

No company will agree to $500,000,000 settlement because of a mis-communication. People seem to be forgetting that Apple designed test software used to mislead people about their battery. Most likely this was a decision to juice revenues by selling more phones by avoiding battery replacements, and some engineer wrote an email to his/her manager noting that he/she felt this was not a good idea (something along those lines). The email surfaced in the discovery process, and Apple is making sure that their fans can continue to say that Apple is not a run-of-the-mill "profit maximization at all costs" exploiter.

I'm not stating after the fact I am stating before this nonsense even began. They should have said "oh hey we see this issue, this is the cause, etc". But instead .. they did what you indicated.

 

[RogerWilco6502]

i'm not so sure about that, maybe i'm the only one, but i clearly remember when one of the iOS 10 versions release, the color/contrast/brightness on my lock screen wall paper was so badly changed, i tried many things to tweak the picture back to what it was but nothing help and when apple finally release the update to address the public outcry for the battery performance issue, my wallpaper magically looks normal to me again, and i don't think it's a coincident. Apple did that on purpose and push for new release phone sales.

Hmmm... Interesting. I guess they could have done some improvement in the implementation of the streamlining itself as well.

 

[Hyperchaotic]

I’d rather have my iPhone operating than shutting down randomly, so never had a problem with this.

Yes, ofcourse but the problem with this is that people ended up with slow iPhones not knowing/understanding that their experience could be so much better by getting a new battery.

I know several who said "My phone is so slow, but I can't afford a new phone right now", not knowing the easy and cheaper fix.

 

[JosephAW]

I have an iPhone 6 & 7. How do I cash in? Like someone said, I'd be happy for a free battery.

 

[ian87w]

This is sad. When a phone has an older battery and tries to pull more amps than the battery can provide, the phone has three choices. The first is, turn the phone off. The second is, slow the phone down a bit so it pulls less amperage. The third is, let the battery explode like a thermite grenade. Of the three, option two is the least disruptive.

And we already know from WWDC for iOS 12 that Apple changed the way the OS ramped up the CPU. As Craig stated in the keynote, iOS12 ramped up the CPU right away instead of the more gradual ramp up in older versions. This obviously put more stress on older batteries.

 

[I7guy]

Fool me once, not going to fool me again. Never buy apple.

Each of us has different sticking points. I got free batteries in my iphone 6s and 7. However, I'll take the $50 dollars and maybe apply it to a homepod or apple watch and expand the ecosystem.
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Yes, for poorly designed systems that might be the only solution. How about using bigger batteries? Use the car size battery and I can assure you, your iPhone is not going to shut down at 30% charge level. And BTW, most other smartphone vendors used bigger batteries (and still do).

Bigger battery adds to weight and the engineering and software behind the phone dictates battery life. There's a reason why android phones have much bigger batteries for not so much greater battery life than the iphone 11.

 

[Defthand]

This is sad. When a phone has an older battery and tries to pull more amps than the battery can provide, the phone has three choices. The first is, turn the phone off. The second is, slow the phone down a bit so it pulls less amperage. The third is, let the battery explode like a thermite grenade. Of the three, option two is the least disruptive.

When a smartphone has a widespread issue such as this, that will eventually affect every customer that owns it, the company has three choices: 1) Explain the underlying reason and recommend a battery replacement; 2) Announce a software band-aid and inform customers that it will cause throttling unless the battery is replaced; or 3) covertly install a software band-aid and hope affected customers don’t notice the throttling. And if they do, withhold any knowledge of the cause and let customers assume their phone is outdated. Of the three, Apple thought option three would be the least disruptive to their genius bars and upgrade cycle.

 

[Tozovac]

I think more of an issue was your choice to forget about the humble comma in such a long sentence. One use of said comma? Really?

I know what you mean that was a really dumb thing to do often sometimes people can be so obsessed with getting a certain message across they don’t realize the poor trade-offs they’ve committed much like the dumb IMHO flat design fad that is stylistically unique but forces certain cues to be nearly not as intuitive and easy to use as before or so I have read but oh I’m glad things are slowly but surely moving back to function over form.

PS your second sentence is missing a verb and has an extra space.

 

[Defthand]

A slow iPhone can be a sign of battery degradation, same as a device shutting down on it's own. Which one would you chose as a sign...?

Tell that to the genius bars. Apparently, they were not as informed as you. And if the battery was tested, their diagnostic tool declared the battery was fine. And if you suspected otherwise, they would not sell you a replacement service unless the battery was deemed defective. Happened to me, in fact.

Is it not odd that Apple routinely announces when they have released a software patch to address a serious bug or deficiency, yet they somehow thought this problem’s fix didn’t warrant an announcement and pat on the back?

 

[Homme]

Lol at “each affected”

considering that this only affects those in America and not everywhere else around the world

 

[Noctilux.95]

I'll cash the check if Tim Cook personally signs it.

 

[1345873]

This is a direct result of Apple's sometimes opaque communications style.

Tell people what you're up to, and why, and maybe even have some arcane way of opting out of this throttling, and not only would most people not care, but they'd be appreciative of the effort.

Be sneaky and take a "my way or the highway" approach and this is what you get.

Throttling? Never happened.. there you go.. regulation is a b&tch Apple, this is nothing short of admitting, and still the spinners at marketing are working on the ‘never happened story’.
Where are all the Apple-needs-no-regulation-because-a-business-needs-none-macrumor/apple-influencers now. See the need for ‘micro’ regulating this kind of businesses?
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Lol at “each affected”

considering that this only affects those in America and not everywhere else around the world

Doesn’t count, AppleTim only needs to spin in the us. Elsewhere customers are better protected.
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$500M is the max this can go...and Apple would gladly pay it to be done. Like I said, it's pocket change and they can move on.

I don't think Apple wanted to hide anything and this doesn't prove they did. All this proves is they are willing to settle for this number, which is very, very low.
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Like I said, a big nothing for all and a waste of time.

Wrong, it is proof enough the throttling did happened. If this went to court, Apple spinners assessed they would loose, so they ‘pay’ up.

the bump under the rug is growing..

 

[jtrenda33]

And each lawyer in the case receives $2.5 million.

well they did do all the work, while we just sat here, many of us having no idea there was even a class action lawsuit taking place. So I’ll take my $25 for doing absolutely nothing.

 

[FlyingDutch]

That’s it. The compensation is $25 or less for the class action subscribers. And millions for the lawyers firm.
That’s why the legal system behind class actions is rotten... it is not meant to protect consumers. It is meant to bring money to lawyers.

the only good outcome is Apple won’t do that again.
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This is sad. When a phone has an older battery and tries to pull more amps than the battery can provide, the phone has three choices. The first is, turn the phone off. The second is, slow the phone down a bit so it pulls less amperage. The third is, let the battery explode like a thermite grenade. Of the three, option two is the least disruptive.

... or you could provide for a bigger battery since the beginning.

 

[bobob]

The issue was not Apple’s programming the feature but not informing customers of the rationale behind the feature and to explain any decrease in performance, to give a costumer an educated choice to either keep things as is or get a battery replacement

It was not just costumers who were affected by this, but also people from all professions.

 

[mi7chy]

the only good outcome is Apple won’t do that again.

Not really. Dragging their feet and settling the lawsuit costs about half or less as much as a product defect recall. More incentive for Apple to do it again.

 

[honglong1976]

Apple still wasn't really wrong in this, but probably should have communicated better. Again, class actions don't amount to anything. Lesson learned for those calling for doom.

Yes, they were in the wrong.

1. They slowed the phones down on purpose without telling anyone.
2. The effect caused people to believe their phones were faulty due to being slow.
3. They were then advised to upgrade to a new phone in-store, rather than replace their battery.

Thanks to the big hoo har online, Apple ended up adding the new battery settings to iOS. If there was no hoo har, Apple wouldn't have said a word.

It was obviously their strategy to sell phones.

Apple gives the impression of being eco-friendly, but ultimately they are a company who want you to buy a new phone every year, rather than replace the battery.

The same for audio heath in the health app. What's the biggest selling earphone? The airpods. It provides no isolation whatsoever, which means you have to turn up the volume ridiculously loud to hear anything outdoors, which in effect may damage your hearing. Apple counter this with audio health!

Hmmm.

 

[dilbert99]

I’d rather have my iPhone operating than shutting down randomly, so never had a problem with this.

It is better not to be opaque and tell your customers what you are doing.

Apple was never going to allow your phone to shut down randomly without a popup first.

 

[Eagle1337]

Only US owners? what about the rest of us lol

 

[Tozovac]

It was not just costumers who were affected by this, but also people from all professions.

For that I’ll blame first my proofreading skills first and Siri second, who had worse ears sometimes than a tree.