Apple was first accused of throttling older iPhones in 2018, and now the company is paying for it. According to a report from Reuters, Apple agreed to a preliminary settlement of up to $500 million, including a payout of around $25 per impacted iPhone.
The lawsuit only covers U.S. iPhone owners, and only covers the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone SE. Named class members in the suit will get either $1,500 or $3,500, and $90 million of the settlement will go toward attorney fees.
The lawsuit dates back to 2017, when Apple was accused of throttling older iPhones — leading users to believe that their devices were at the end of the lifespan. Apple later admitted that it was throttling iPhones — but was doing so to prevent unwanted shutdowns caused by older batteries not being able to maintain peak performance. The throttling feature was rolled out as part of iOS 10.2.1, however at the time it wasn’t communicated to customers.
Soon after the feature was discovered in 2017, Apple released a software update that allowed users to disable throttling if they wanted to. Of course, the result of disabling the feature is that your iPhone might switch off thanks to the fact that the aging battery can’t sustain peak performance any more. Because of the impact of battery on performance, if you get a new battery for your older iPhone, you may experience a performance boost.
As a result of the controversy, Apple apologized and discounted battery replacements to only $29 in 2018. It also changed how newer iPhones handle battery performance, including smart features that minimize the impact of throttling. In Italy, Apple was forced to add a message on its website apologizing for the scandal, and even paying a fine. Only a few months ago, France’s competition and fraud watchdog agency hit Apple with a 25 million euro fine.
Dozens of lawsuits were filed in the months following the discovery, however the U.S. Judicial Panel combined the lawsuits — so this settlement should cover all of them.
Apple has long been accused of “planned obsolescence,” where the company pushed software updates that slow down iPhones, resulting in users being forced to upgrade. While this situation isn’t necessarily a case of that, it still doesn’t do much to convince users that Apple isn’t forcing upgrades.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.