Apple to Pay $113m to Settle iPhone batterygate
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 it 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 behaviour 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.” He added.
Apple had no immediate comment on the matter. In the court documents, the iPhone maker said it agreed to the payout “solely for the purposes of settlement,” without any admission of wrongdoing.