AFP, published on Monday March 02 2020 at 21h42
Apple has agreed to pay up to $ 500 million to owners of older iPhone models, who accuse the tech giant of orchestrating performance declines to entice users to buy newer models.
“After two years of litigation and bitter struggle, the parties have reached an agreement,” a court in San Jose, California, said on Friday.
In December 2017, Apple had apologized for having deliberately slowed down some of its iPhones to compensate for the aging of their battery and to prevent them from unexpectedly turning off.
The group had, however, denied any planned obsolescence attempts.
“We have never done and never will do anything to intentionally shorten the lifespan of an Apple product or reduce the quality of our products to cause them to change,” said the apple brand.
According to the tentative agreement reached on Friday, Apple will pay at least $ 310 million, and up to $ 500 million, to pay the plaintiffs’ lawyers and compensate American iPhone owners (iPhone 6, 7 and SE ranges).
They will receive around 25 dollars per smartphone purchased, depending on the number of people who will take steps to obtain this compensation. The lawyers are expected to recover more than $ 90 million.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.
In France, the American firm was sanctioned last month for not warning that updates could slow down old iPhones.
She was fined 25 million euros ($ 27.8 million) after an investigation that revealed “deceptive marketing practices by omission” but did not hold the charge of planned obsolescence.
Apple must also make amends by publishing a press release on its site for a month. “We are happy with this outcome,” reacted the group, which avoided a trial.
In the US case, the agreement is to be approved at a hearing in early April.
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