Apple Begins Sending 'Battery Gate' Payments To iPhone Users, You May Get Paid

There have been a few times in recent memory that Apple has gotten into some trouble with its business practices, but none were so egregious as the “batterygate” scandal, which happened a few iPhone generations back. With this incident, though, Apple was served and agreed to pay a $500 million class action settlement to wash its hands of the ordeal. Now, payments for the settlement are finally going out to folks as a New Year’s gift of sorts.

In 2017, Apple was caught throttling processors of iPhones with older batteries which caused many users to replace their devices rather than replace the failing or aging batteries. Subsequently, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple after this came to light, and Apple eventually settled for a $500 million payout. With this, those in the U.S. who owned an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, or iPhone SE running iOS 10.2.1 or later, as well as owners of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus running iOS 11.2 or later, had a claim in this case.


Initially, it was expected that class action members would only get $25, but it would seem that the initial payout is coming closer to $92 according to folks on X. For example, Michael Burkhardt woke up to several $92.17 payments for, presumably, multiple claims due to owning multiple phones that fell under the claim as explained previously.

Of course, the window to file a claim is now closed on the settlement site, but is it suits and settlements like this that are good reminders to keep your eye open for these situations. You never know when you may qualify to be a class action member and get some cash back for trouble incurred just by owning a product.