Apple starts paying compensation to users as part of 'Battereygate' settlement

Apple in 2020 agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a class action lawsuit in the U.S. that accused the company of "secretly throttling" some iPhone models, and payouts finally started going out this week to individuals who submitted a claim, reported MacRumors.

Confirming he has received payments of $92.17 per claim from Apple as part of the settlement, an X user Michael Burkhardt posted on X: "Nice thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning — especially after 3.5 years of waiting!"

The lawsuit was filed in December 2017, shortly after Apple revealed that it throttled the maximum performance of some iPhone models with "chemically aged" batteries when necessary to prevent the devices from unexpectedly shutting down, the news portal reported.

Apple introduced this power management system in iOS 10.2.1, but it initially failed to mention the change in that update's release notes.

Interestingly, Apple reportedly denied all allegations and never admitted to any legal wrongdoings.

As per MacRumors report, Apple said it agreed to the settlement only to "avoid burdensome and costly litigation."

The class included any U.S. resident who owned an affected iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and/or iPhone SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later, and/or an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later, before December 21, 2017. The deadline to submit a claim for payment was in October 2020, the news portal reported.