Payouts to begin in $500 millionApple iPhone ‘batterygate’ lawsuit soon

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple’s much-awaited $500 million lawsuit over the iPhone ‘batterygate’ issue is nearing an end as according to reports, a judge in the US has given final nod to allow payments to affected iPhone users to begin in a class-action lawsuit.

Each affected iPhone user that filed a claim is likely to receive around $65. Two iPhone owners who objected to the settlement have lost their appeal in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals over its terms, removing the final obstacle to the deal, it was reported. The iPhone maker in 2020 agreed to pay up to $500 million to resolve the lawsuit. According to the 2018 lawsuit, consumers complained their phones were shutting off even though the batteries showed a charge of more than 30 per cent. The devices at issue were iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE devices running operating systems iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus phones running iOS 11.2 or later before that date.

Apple was yet to comment on the development. The law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy representing Apple customers, said the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal challenging the historic agreement with Apple to settle a nationwide class-action.

After years of litigation, the team at CPM, along with co-lead counsel, Kaplan Fox, successfully negotiated the settlement - the largest all-cash recovery in a computer intrusion case in history - on behalf of a class of approximately 100 million iPhone users. “The settlement is the result of years of investigation and hotly contested litigation. We are extremely proud that this deal has been approved, and following the Ninth Circuit’s order, we can finally provide immediate cash payments to impacted Apple customers,” said Mark C Molumphy, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy.