Tech giant Apple has reportedly agreed to pay $113 million to settle allegations from 33 states and the District of Columbia that it purposefully slowed down iPhones to encourage users to purchase newer devices. The company recently reported quarterly revenues of almost $60 billion.
The Daily Mail reports that Apple will pay a $113 million settlement over allegations from 33 states and the District of Columbia that it purposefully slowed down iPhones to encourage users to purchase new devices.
The deal with a coalition led by Arizona, Arkansas, and Indiana is separate from a proposed settlement Apple reached in March to pay affected iPhone users up to $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.
In 2016, Apple updated the firmware on models of the iPhone 6, 7, and SE to throttle the phone’s processor speeds so that the devices aging batteries would not send power spikes to the phone’s processor which could cause them to unexpectedly shut down. Sates alleges that Apple acted deceptively and should have replaced the batteries or disclosed the issue. An Arizona court filing states that millions of users were affected by the power shutoffs.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in an interview: “My colleagues and I are trying to get the attention of these big tech companies, and you would hope a multimillion-dollar judgment with more than 30 states will get their attention. Companies cannot be disingenuous and conceal things.”
Apple denies any wrongdoing but has agreed for the next three years to provide “truthful information” about iPhone power management across its website, software updates notes, and iPhone settings.
The settlement includes $5 million to Arizona, $24.6 million to Apple’s home state of California, and $7.6 million to the state of Texas.
Apple recently reported third-quarter revenue of nearly $60 billion, an 11 percent increase year-over-year.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.