Apple Will Pay Up to $500 Million to Settle Slow iPhones Lawsuit

It looks like tech giant Apple will be shelling out up to $500 million to pay a lawsuit over slow iPhones.

The iPhone maker agreed to pay the hefty settlement in a lawsuit that accused the company of quietly slowing down older iPhones as it launched its new models.

It was last Friday that the preliminary proposed class-action settlement was disclosed. It still requires approval by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California.

The settlement calls for Apple to pay consumers $25 per iPhone, which may be adjusted up or down depending on how many iPhones are eligible, with a minimum total payout of $310 million.

According to court papers, the company had denied it did anything wrong but settled the nationwide case to avoid the burdens and costs of litigation.

The settlement covers U.S. owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7Plus or SE that ran the iOS 10.2.1 or later operating system. It additionally covers U.S. owners of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later before Dec. 21, 2017.

Consumers claimed that their phones’ performance was impacted after they installed software updates from the company. The consumers say they were misled and believed their phones were at the end of their lifecycles and needing new batteries or replacements.

Lawyers for the consumers described the settlement as “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and have not been compensated for this article.