Apple Will Soon Send Payments for $95 Million Refurbished Device Class Action Lawsuit

Apple last year agreed to pay $95 million to settle an AppleCare-related lawsuit that accused the company of violating U.S. laws and regulations by providing customers with refurbished replacement devices instead of new devices when AppleCare repairs were required.

applerefurbishedgoodastwo
Administrators for the case began collecting info from impacted customers back in January, and the settlement amount received final approval in April. With everything now set, Apple is ready to begin sending out payments, and customers who are expecting money are starting to receive emails. One of the emails was shared by MacRumors reader Nathan:

According to our records, you are eligible to receive a payment of $28.90 in the settlement for the matter entitled Maldonado, et al. v. Apple Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-CV-04067-WHO.

As Settlement Administrator for the matter, we're sending you this courtesy email to inform you that by August 30, 2022, you will receive a payment notification email that contains a link to claim your payment electronically. Once you receive that email, you will have until November 28, 2022 to claim your payment.

Please monitor your email inbox carefully for our next email. Additional details about the matter are available at www.ReplacementDeviceLawsuit.com.

Customers who are eligible for a payment will get an email by August 30, and they must respond to the email by November 28, 2022 to receive their money. The lawsuit applied to customers who purchased an ‌AppleCare‌ Protection Plan or ‌AppleCare‌+ for an iPhone or iPad between July 20, 2012 and September, 30, 2021 and who received a refurbished replacement device.

Apple's repair terms and conditions have always made it clear that the company may use "parts or products that are new or refurbished and equivalent to new in performance and reliability" when repairing or replacing a device, but the lawsuit claimed that refurbished devices are "not equivalent to new in performance and reliability." The lawsuit sought compensation for ‌iPhone‌‌, ‌‌iPad‌‌, and iPod owners who purchased ‌‌AppleCare‌‌ or ‌‌AppleCare‌‌+ coverage and were unhappy with receiving an "inferior" refurbished device instead of a device that works "like new."

Though Apple paid $95 million to settle the lawsuit, it admitted no wrongdoing and denies that refurbished devices are inferior to new devices.

(Thanks, Nathan!)

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
ipad pro 2024

New iPad Pro Reportedly Launching This Year

Tuesday January 21, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously. After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...

Top Rated Comments

Jerry Fritschle Avatar
32 months ago
As someone who has purchased refurbs on purpose, I'm ambivalent. What is clear, though, is that the lawyers, as always, are the winners here.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HMI Avatar
32 months ago
Great! I’ll use my $28.90 as a down payment on my next AppleCare+ Plan.

The future has never been brighter!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
32 months ago
Where my $.93 at?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
32 months ago

Apple's repair terms and conditions have always made it clear that the company may use "parts or products that are new or refurbished and equivalent to new in performance and reliability"
Then this is crap, more lawyer BS.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sorgo † Avatar
32 months ago
Almost $30?!?! ???
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icerabbit Avatar
32 months ago
When refurbished products come with a NEW battery and/or case - where applicable - how are they inferior?
And it has been my understanding this was always part of the care agreement.

How was this not thrown out?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)