US owners of certain iPhone 6 series or iPhone 7 series devices affected by "Batterygate" can now claim from Apple's US$500 million settlement payout pool

US owners of Apple smartphones that were deliberately throttled by software released by the Cupertino company can now state their personal claim against the iPhone maker. A website has been set up, allowing users to either file their claim online or by mail. Those affected by the “Batterygate” scandal have up to October 6, 2020 to submit a claim form, while the deadline for attending a hearing falls on December 4, 2020 at 10:00 am PST.

Certain criteria have to be met to be eligible to submit a claim:

1. US owners of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and/or iPhone SE running on iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017.
2. US owners of the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus running on iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017.

Although Apple has set aside US$310 million to a maximum of US$500 million for the expenses involved, claimants shouldn’t expect huge individual payouts. A proposed settlement stated: “For a release of their claims, Settlement Class Members will receive US$25.00 for each iPhone owned”. However, this amount could increase or decrease depending on all the other costs involved in the settlement.

Apple has generally stated that the settlement is not an admission of guilt and simply a way to clear up a tricky situation with its millions of consumers. “Batterygate” saw the company roll out software that throttled the CPU performance thus saving battery power, which was an issue with the degrading batteries found in older iPhones. This was soon discovered, and Apple had to face an angry public demanding answers and compensation.

The page for making a claim is currently live and it’s worth reminding users that they have until October 6, 2020 to file their submission. Although US$25 isn’t a life-changing amount, it’s still worth making a claim if you owned an iPhone 6 series device or iPhone 7 series smartphone that was hamstrung by Apple’s costly decision.