Apple found guilty of slowing down old iPhones to force customers into buying new ones, set to pay SE, 6,6s, 6s plus, 7, 7plus users

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Apple found guilty of slowing down old iPhones to force customers into buying new ones, set to pay SE, 6,6s, 6s plus, 7, 7plus users

Apple Inc. has reportedly agreed to pay $500 million in settlement, following a lawsuit accusing the company of intentionally slowing down the performance of older phones in order to encourage customers to buy new phones or fresh batteries.

The tech giants will now offer $25 to any current or former owner of a covered iPhone.

People who have the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7Plus or SE running on iOS 10.2.1 are eligible for the settlement. Also eligible are owners of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2, or a later version before, the 21st of December, 2017.

Consumers who were named in the lawsuit will receive $1,500 or $3,500, and around $93 million will go toward attorneys plus another $1.5 million or so for out-of-pocket expenses, legal documents indicated.

The settlement has a minimum payout of $310 million, but the payment is expected to increase to $500 million if more people file claims. 

A federal judge in California presiding over the group of lawsuits will be asked to approve the proposed settlement at a hearing in early April, according to a court filing on Friday. 

In December 2017, Apple admitted that iOS software was tweaked to slow the performance of older iPhones whose battery life was deteriorating to prevent handsets from spontaneously shutting down. But critics accused Apple of intentionally forcing users to buy new phones or fresh batteries.