No Aussie payment for ‘slowed’ iPhones

AUSTRALIAN iPhone users will miss out on any payout from tech giant Apple, which overnight agreed to pay a $US500 million settlement over claims it intentionally slowed down older phones to preserve batteries.

Apple confirmed Australian customers were not eligible for the settlement. The company said it would not provide further comment on the matter, other than to say the settlement related to a class action lodged in a US jurisdiction.

Under the terms of that settlement, US iPhone owners who had bought iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and SE models will be eligible for a payment of up to $US25 from Apple.

The settlement comes after Apple and lawyers representing iPhone consumers agreed to a deal stemming from Apple’s 2017 admission that it was slowing down phone performance in older models to avoid unexpected shutdowns related to battery fatigue.

That admission led to Apple offering discounted battery replacements at $US29.

But many people claimed they had already spent hundreds of dollars to buy new phones because Apple didn’t reveal the cause of the problem. If they had known they could just buy new batteries, they might not have bought new phones, some consumers in the case said.

Apple did not admit wrongdoing, but as part of the settlement, the company will pay between $US310 million to $US500 million, figures including an amount of about $US93 million paid to lawyers representing consumers.

iPhone users who were named in the class-action lawsuit will get up to $US3500 each.

The rest of the settlement money will be distributed to owners of iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and SE models who meet eligibility requirements related to the operating system they had running.