Apple pays $500m to solve the subject of “consumer fraud”

The deal stems from the indictment of battegate, which accused the company of secret curbing the old iPhone models. In 2017, the update of 0.2.1 of Apple changed the performance of the old iPhones with consumed batteries.

This effectively meant that the battery did not function properly, leading to slower performance in phones issued between 2014 and 2016. The only way to restore complete performance was to replace the consumed battery. Apple claimed it was designed to protect the equipment from unexpected closures.

However, since the company initially did not tell customers that updates were reducing performance of their old iPhone models, indignant consumers indicted the company.

The group indictment, filed in December 2017, described the movement as “one of the biggest consumer frauds in history”. The technology company denied all charges and entered an agreement to avoid a serious and costly judicial process. The agreement is not an admission of Apple's wrongdoing, according to the US District Court for Northern California.

As part of the deal, Apple had agreed to pay $500m to the affected owners of the iPhone, and payments are expected to start soon. After all, the technology giant apologized for the lack of communication and cut the battery replacement price to 29 dollars by the end of 2018.

Qualified iPhone owners would have to submit a request in 2020, and the surrenders were open until October 6, 2020. Those who filed a request at that time will now receive a payment of 65 dollars. The group indictment was open to American clients who had an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, or 7 Plus to IOS 10.2.1 or iOS 11.2 before December 21, 2017.