Apple Starts Sending 'Batterygate' Settlement Payments to iPhone Users

Apple in 2020 agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a class action lawsuit in the U.S. that accused the company of "secretly throttling" some iPhone models, and payouts finally started going out this week to individuals who submitted a claim.

iPhone 6s MacRumors YouTube
The website for the so-called "batterygate" settlement said payments would likely start to be distributed this January, and payouts have began on schedule. MacRumors readers Ken Strand and Michael Burkhardt are among the individuals who have received payments of $92.17 per claim from Apple as part of the settlement.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2017, shortly after Apple revealed that it throttled the maximum performance of some iPhone models with "chemically aged" batteries when necessary to prevent the devices from unexpectedly shutting down. Apple introduced this power management system in iOS 10.2.1, but it initially failed to mention the change in that update's release notes. Apple apologized about its lack of transparency, and temporarily lowered the price of iPhone battery replacements to $29 in 2018.

Despite apologizing over the way it communicated the change, Apple repeatedly denied all allegations and never admitted to any legal wrongdoing. Apple said it agreed to the settlement only to "avoid burdensome and costly litigation."

The class included any U.S. resident who owned an affected iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and/or iPhone SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later, and/or an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later, before December 21, 2017. The deadline to submit a claim for a payment was in October 2020.

Apple continues to have a performance management system on the iPhone 6 and newer.

Popular Stories

ios 18 4 carplay

Apple Upgrades CarPlay in Two Ways

Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay. Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Launch Now Just Months Away: Here's What We Know

Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Will Bring Biggest Design Overhaul Since iOS 7

Monday March 10, 2025 12:17 pm PDT by
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience. Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
Apple More Personal Siri Ad

John Gruber Says 'Something is Rotten' at Apple

Wednesday March 12, 2025 7:39 pm PDT by
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today shared some strongly-worded comments about Apple's delayed personalized Siri features. Gruber is a well-known Apple pundit who has been writing about the company for more than two decades. In a blog post titled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino," Gruber said Apple's credibility has been "damaged" by the delay:Keynote by keynote, product by...
Apple Maps vs Google Maps Feature

iOS 18.4 Adds a Highly-Requested Setting to iPhones — But Not in U.S.

Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited. The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
Apple One Apps Feature 2

Apple One's Best Plan Now Includes Two More Perks For Free

Monday March 10, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Apple One allows you to subscribe to up to six Apple services for one discounted monthly price. There are three Apple One tiers: Individual, Family, and Premier. Over the last month, the highest-end ‌Apple One‌ Premier plan has gained two additional perks. Here is what Apple One Premier already included, for $37.95 per month:Apple Music Apple TV+ Apple Arcade Apple News+ Apple Fitness+...
iOS 18

12 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.4

Monday March 10, 2025 9:28 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Machined Parts Leak Reflects Camera Redesign Rumors

Thursday March 13, 2025 3:07 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to feature a significant design overhaul, and a new image apparently taken on an assembly line for the unreleased devices appears to confirm the biggest rumored change. Render of an iPhone 17 Pro model shared by Jon Prosser The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to adopt a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of Google's Pixel...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.3.2 With Bug Fixes

Tuesday March 11, 2025 10:33 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.3.2 and iPadOS 18.3.2, minor updates for the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.3.2 and iOS 18.3.2 come a month after Apple released iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release...

Top Rated Comments

CWallace Avatar
16 months ago
One of the times Apple's penchant for secrecy bit them on the bum. It would likely have been seen as positive PR if they had been upfront as to why they were doing it - "rather than have your phone suddenly shut down, we're going to limit how much power it can draw for a short period of time".
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnipgnop Avatar
16 months ago
The tech media STILL can't report on this issue correctly.

Throttling was not just for end-of-life batteries. It was also for new batteries that were operating below 20% charge or were operating in cold temperatures. All three of those scenarios could result in voltage demands that the battery couldn't supply which could potentially do permanent damage to the phone hardware.

This was always one of the stupidest lawsuits from a consumer perspective. Without throttling, the phone would simply shut off in either of those three scenarios. All the throttling did was allow the user to continue what they were doing albeit in a slower speed.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bulbousnub Avatar
16 months ago
Woke up to three (Two 6 Plus and a 7 plus) $92.17 deposits this morning and was very confused but also very happy.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dynamojoe Avatar
16 months ago
Three claims here, three payouts. The sad yet fun part is that Apple is probably just going to get this money back later on.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
16 months ago
Mine hasn't shown up yet and I gave them my Apple Savings Acct: #

I tried asking Siri:



Attachment Image
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
16 months ago

The tech media STILL can't report on this issue correctly.

Throttling was not just for end-of-life batteries. It was also for new batteries that were operating below 20% charge or were operating in cold temperatures. All three of those scenarios could result in voltage demands that the battery couldn't supply which could potentially do permanent damage to the phone hardware.

This was always one of the stupidest lawsuits from a consumer perspective. Without throttling, the phone would simply shut off in either of those three scenarios. All the throttling did was allow the user to continue what they were doing albeit in a slower speed.
I don't know why you, and several other people, refuse to see the reasons for this. It's not what Apple did, it's that they didn't tell anyone they did it., and there was no way for the end-user to know what was happening.

If they were upfront and said "we're enabling this, and here is how you know if it affects you", there would have been no lawsuit, no case, and no payouts..

Transparency would have solved this.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)