States Take a $113 Million Bite Out of Apple

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Thirty-three U.S. states claim that Apple slowed down older iPhones in 2016 to encourage users to buy new devices, reported BBC News. The incident is known as “batterygate” and affected millions of Americans with iPhone 6, 7, and SE models. 

Now, Apple is slated to pay $113 million in reparations. The tech giant acknowledged the slowdowns but claims the intent was to preserve aging battery life, reported BBC News. 

The state of Arizona filed the class action lawsuit against Apple deeming the company “had acted deceptively and should have replaced batteries or disclosed the issue.” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich wrote the following in a court document, “Many consumers decided that the only way to get improved performance was to purchase a newer-model iPhone from Apple.”

Apple denies that intended slowdowns in 2016 were made for financial gain. Brnovich commented on the slowdown that “Apple, of course, fully understood such effects on sales.”

The BBC News reported that Apple did not admit any wrongdoing or acknowledge breaking any laws under the settlement. The tech company also agreed for the next three years to provide “truthful information” to its customers via multiple platforms. 

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.