Apple Starts Compensating Eligible Users from 'Batterygate' Settlement: The Complete Story
The Story Behind “Batterygate”
The controversy surrounding Apple's practice of intentionally slowing down the performance of older iPhones through software updates is the so-called “Batterygate” scandal. This action was taken by Apple to prevent unexpected shutdowns that could occur when the older devices' batteries degraded to a certain point, especially under high loads or in cold conditions.
However, the issue sparked significant public outcry and legal action because consumers were not informed about the iPhone performance throttling, which led to accusations of planned obsolescence—intentionally reducing the performance of older models to prompt consumers to buy newer ones.
The issue first emerged in late 2016, with users reporting unexpected shutdowns when their battery capacity reached around 30%. Following investigations and public pressure, Apple confirmed the practice in December 2017, as reported by Business Insider. The US tech giant offered discounted battery replacements in 2018 and updated iOS to provide better information on battery health and the option to disable performance throttling.
Apple Payouts & Eligibility
Apple faced numerous class action lawsuits over the issue. In 2020, Apple agreed to a $500 million settlement in the United States. As part of the settlement, Apple did not admit to any wrongdoing but committed to more transparency regarding device performance and battery health going forward.
The settlement applied to U.S. residents who owned specific iPhone models and had experienced slowdowns due to the iOS updates implemented by Apple. The affected models were iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, or iPhone SE running specific versions of iOS prior to December 21, 2017. Eligible users could submit a payment claim until October 2020 but Apple hadn’t proceeded to any payments until this week.
Now several users who had submitted a claim are finally seeing the $92.17 payment in their bank accounts.
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