Apple’s $500 million iPhone settlement, briefly explained

The company was sued for slowing down iPhone processors in order to improve battery life — and not telling users about any of it.

Apple has agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a class action lawsuit over its phone batteries — and you might get a (small) cut of that.

According to Reuters, Apple will pay qualified iPhone owners $25 per phone, although this amount could be adjusted depending on how many claims are filed. (Think of that Equifax settlement that was supposed to give us $125 each, except so many people submitted a claim that it was significantly reduced). Nevertheless, the minimum amount that Apple must pay out will be at least $310 million.

The settlement comes after Apple was sued for allegedly using software updates to throttle, or slow down, the performance of older iPhone models in order to preserve the battery life. But many felt that this measure was also taken to force owners to upgrade to newer models — which would, of course, mean more money for Apple. Apple initially responded to the controversy by offering discounts on new iPhone batteries. That, however, didn’t stop the class action lawsuits from pouring in.

Apple settled a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice over price fixing its ebooks for $450 million in 2016, with customers receiving between $1.57 and $6.93 per book. That case dragged out over several years, with Apple taking it all the way to the US Supreme Court — a much different response than this agreement to settle without admitting fault.

The settlement will cover models 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and SE devices that installed the software updates before December 21, 2017. If that’s you, don’t spend that $25 yet — the settlement still has to be approved by a federal judge.