‘Batterygate’: Millions of iPhone Users Are Now Receiving Millions of Dollars from Apple

Apple began to issue payments to iPhone owners who were affected by the so-called “batterygate” issue in which some users accused the Cupertino, California-based company of secretly throttling the devices, and the payments received thus far are far in excess of what was originally anticipated.

FBT Editorial Director Jonathan Spira was one of the first to report several $92.17 payments, which in his case covered an iPhone 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and 6 Plus smartphone.  Others posted screenshots of the remittances on social media.

The term “Batterygate” is used to describe deliberate processor slowdowns on certain Apple iPhone smartphones in order to prevent handsets with degraded batteries shutting down when under high load.

Some argued that batterygate was effectively planned obsolescence on Apple’s part, in order to induce owners of older iPhones to purchase newer models where the battery would presumably last longer.

A partial screenshot showing two of multiple batterygate-related ACH payments from Apple

In 2020, Apple agreed to pay $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of nefariously and secretly throttling the devices in a case that went before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California

“If you are or were a U.S. owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and/or a U.S. owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017, you could be entitled to benefits under a class action settlement,” the class-action suit’s website read.

The claims administrator told potential members of the class that the amount each person would receive per eligible device was roughly 25% of what recipients have reported having received from Apple.

“Under the proposed settlement, Apple will provide a cash payment of approximately $25 per eligible device,” the claims administrator wrote in an e-mail message to potential members of the class in July 2020. “Please note that the actual cash payment per eligible device may be greater than or less than $25, depending on the total number of approved claims and other factors.”

In December of 2023, the claims administrator said on the website in re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation that payments would begin in January 2024 and claimants did begin to receive them starting this past Saturday.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)