Apple to start paying out claims in iPhone battery slowdown lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO -- The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has cleared the way for payments to be sent to members of a class action suit against Apple for deliberately slowing iPhones with aging batteries.

The court dismissed appeals last week from two individual members of the class action lawsuit who objected to the terms of the settlement, meaning that the payments to claimants can now be sent.

In March 2020, Apple agreed to settle the suit for a minimum of $310 million, up to $500 million. Consumers who owned iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, and SE models running iOS 12.2.1 and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus running iOS 11.2 -- and who filed their claim before the October 2020 deadline -- will be receiving a check for about $65.

In 2018, Apple was accused of slowing down an iPhone's performance if the operating system detected the device's battery had degraded with age, which the company has denied. Three million claims were filed in the class action suit.