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‘Batterygate’ payout – Apple may owe you $25 or more

Remember the slowdown controversy a few years back when Apple sneaked performance throttling features into iOS without making it clear what it was doing? Well, the company has just agreed a $500 million settlement to avoid fighting the class action lawsuit, and there’s a good chance you’re eligible for a cut.

The performance management feature was designed to stop the random shutdowns that can sometimes occur with a worn battery, and forms an important part of the improved Battery Health section of the Settings app. Overall, it’s a smart feature – but when first launched, it was done so without user consent and couldn’t be disabled. This led many people to believe Apple was intentionally slowing older devices to encourage upgrades.

Nowadays, the feature is off by default, triggering only after a battery-related crash – and you can even manually disable that if you choose. If anything, it helps iPhones last longer before an upgrade. But that doesn’t stop the fact that its initial launch was considered “one of the largest consumer frauds in history” by those who launched the legal suit against Apple.

That suit was launched nearly three years ago. Despite admitting no wrongdoing, Apple has decided to pay out to avoid extending the legal proceedings further. The payout will vary slightly based on the number of claimants, with a maximum cap of $500 million – making the likely individual payout around the $25 mark per affected user. Could be more, could be less.

Even if you weren’t aware of any slowdown issues at the time, if you live in America and owned an iPhone in 2017 there’s a good chance you fit the bill. Here are the full eligibility details:

“If you are or were a U.S. owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and/or a U.S. owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017, you could be entitled to benefits under a class action settlement.”

If you think you’re eligible for a payout, you can submit a claim online or by post. Just make sure to do it before the October 6 deadline.