Technology giant Apple Inc. has reportedly agreed to pay USD 113 million to settle accusations from 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that it intentionally slowed down iPhones to mask battery-related problems and get customers to purchase new mobile devices.
Sources cite that Apple quietly updated software on the iPhone 6, 7, and SE models in 2016 to curb chip speeds so that aging phone batteries on the smartphones wouldn’t send power spikes to the iPhone’s processor and cause it to suddenly shut down. States claimed that Apple acted deceptively and should have disclosed the issue or replace batteries.
The deal with a coalition led by Indiana, Arizona, and Arkansa is separate from the scheduled settlement iPhone maker reached in March to pay affected iPhone users up to USD 500 million to stem a class action. As per sources, millions of users were affected by sudden power shutoffs.
The technology giant acknowledged that its update reduced power demands after investigators found unexpected slowdowns in 2017. The firm publicly apologized and reduced prices on battery replacements. The new settlement includes USD 5 million to Arizona, USD 24.6 million to California, and USD 7.6 million to Texas. The latter two U.S states have the country’s Nos. 1 and 2 affected iPhone user bases.
Apple has also agreed that it will provide ‘truthful information’ for the next three years regarding iPhone power management, iPhone settings, and software update. Arizona said the company’s current disclosures and options are sufficient. The settlement with states is currently subject to approval from the court.
The multistate probe into Apple is part of a wave of investigations into the world’s leading technology providers. Last month, Republican attorneys general in 11 states joined the U.S. Department of Justice in an antitrust lawsuit against Google, and bipartisan, large groups of attorneys general also have ongoing probes into Facebook and Google over potentially deceptive and anticompetitive practices.
Source credit - https://in.reuters.com/article/uk-apple-iphones-settlement/apple-u-s-states-reach-113-million-settlement-on-iphone-throttling-idINKBN27Y2MR
