The Apple planned obsolescence lawsuit, widely known as “Batterygate,” was actually a cluster of cases on multiple continents accusing Apple of secretly slowing older iPhones through iOS updates. In the United States alone, Apple agreed to a class action settlement worth between $310 million and $500 million, plus a separate $113 million deal with 34 state attorneys general. European regulators fined the company tens of millions of euros, Canadian owners won a smaller settlement, and a multibillion-pound case in the United Kingdom is still working its way through the courts.
What Apple Did to Older iPhones
Beginning with iOS 10.2.1 in January 2017, Apple introduced a power management feature that capped processor speeds on iPhones with aging batteries. The company said the cap was meant to prevent unexpected shutdowns caused by voltage drops in degraded lithium-ion batteries. It applied first to the iPhone 6, 6s, and SE, then extended to the iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2.1Ars Technica. iPhones Slow Over Time to Preserve Battery Life, Benchmarks Suggest
The affected models were the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, and 7 Plus. The iPhone 8 and iPhone X were not throttled in the same way.2ABC7 News. Apple’s Anti-Battery Throttling Update Is (Almost) Here The legal problem was not the throttling itself but the silence around it. Owners saw their phones get slower after a routine update and assumed the hardware was wearing out. Apple had not disclosed that the update would reduce performance.
After benchmark data from Geekbench founder John Poole made the practice public in December 2017, Apple issued an apology, cut the price of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29 through the end of 2018, and promised a battery health tool that shipped with iOS 11.3. That tool let users check their battery’s maximum capacity and switch the throttling off.3CNBC. Apple Batterygate Letter Full Text4CNET. How to Get Apple’s $29 iPhone Battery Replacement
The U.S. Class Action Settlement
Dozens of consumer lawsuits filed in late 2017 were consolidated into a single multidistrict litigation, In re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, before Judge Edward J. Davila in the Northern District of California.5CourtListener. In Re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation
In March 2020, Apple agreed to pay a minimum of $310 million and a maximum of $500 million, with the exact figure tied to how many claims came in. The class covered U.S. owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, and 7 Plus who had installed the relevant iOS versions before December 21, 2017. Early estimates put payments at around $25 per device.6CNN. Apple Lawsuit Settlement Slow Batteries
Judge Davila granted final approval in March 2021, but the Ninth Circuit later vacated the approval and the fee award, sending the case back for reconsideration under a heightened scrutiny standard because the deal was reached before the class was certified.7United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In Re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, No. 21-157588Smartphone Performance Settlement. In Re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation Settlement9BBC News. Apple Begins Making Batterygate Payments
The $113 Million State Attorneys General Deal
A separate investigation by 33 states and the District of Columbia, led by Arizona’s attorney general, ended in a $113 million settlement in November 2020. The states accused Apple of deceptive practices for concealing the throttling.10NPR. Apple Agrees to Pay $113 Million to Settle Batterygate Case Over iPhone Slowdowns
This money did not go to iPhone owners. It went to state governments to cover attorneys’ fees and fund future consumer protection work. Apple also agreed to keep a public webpage explaining how software updates affect battery life and performance. The company did not admit any wrongdoing.11Illinois Attorney General. $113 Million Settlement With Apple After Slowing iPhone Performance
European Fines and Cases
European regulators framed the issue less as a product defect than as consumer deception.
France
France’s competition and fraud authority, the DGCCRF, fined Apple €25 million in early 2020. Investigators had examined whether the conduct amounted to “planned obsolescence” under French law but concluded the evidence did not support that specific charge. Instead, Apple was found responsible for a “misleading commercial practice by omission” for failing to warn users that iOS updates could slow their phones. Apple paid the fine and was required to post a notice on its French website for a month.12BBC News. Apple Fined for Slowing Down Old iPhones13Politico. Apple Fined €25M in France for Misleading Consumers About Slowed-Down iPhones
Italy
Italy’s antitrust authority fined Apple €10 million in 2018 for misleading consumers about the effect of software updates. Apple appealed. The Administrative Court of Lazio upheld the fine in May 2020.14CNN. Apple iPhone Slowing Europe Lawsuit
The Euroconsumers Class Actions
The advocacy group Euroconsumers filed class actions in Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Portugal between late 2020 and early 2021, seeking at least €60 per affected consumer for owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, and 6s Plus. The group put the potential total cost to Apple at €180 million, covering up to two million devices.15TechCrunch. Apple Hit With Another European Class Action Over Throttled iPhones None of those cases has produced a final judgment or settlement; they remain in various stages of litigation.16Euroconsumers. Apple Class Action Lawsuits
The UK Collective Action
The largest unresolved case is in the United Kingdom. Justin Gutmann filed an opt-out collective action against Apple before the Competition Appeal Tribunal in June 2022, alleging abuse of a dominant market position under the Competition Act 1998. Reports have estimated the claim could seek up to £1.6 billion on behalf of roughly 24 million iPhone users.9BBC News. Apple Begins Making Batterygate Payments
The Tribunal certified the proceedings in November 2023, and Apple was denied permission to appeal. In March 2026 the Tribunal rejected Apple’s application to decertify or strike out the claim, finding that transparency issues remain “active, triable” questions, though it narrowed the scope of the proceedings. A case management conference was set for late June 2026.17Competition Appeal Tribunal. Mr Justin Gutmann v Apple Inc18Competition Appeal Tribunal. Mr Justin Gutmann v Apple Inc – Judgment
Canada and Brazil
In Canada, the British Columbia Supreme Court approved a class action settlement in March 2024 worth up to $14.4 million CAD. It covered Canadian residents outside Quebec who owned affected iPhone 6 and 7 models and experienced slowdowns after the relevant iOS updates. Individual payouts ranged from $17.50 to $150 CAD, depending on claim volume. Claimants had to submit their device serial number and declare under oath that they had experienced performance degradation.19CBC News. Apple Settlement British Columbia Supreme Court
Brazil went the other way. A Brazilian court denied a lawsuit brought by the Brazilian Institute of Information Technology Policy and Law seeking about $212 million in damages, ruling that Apple had not engaged in planned obsolescence. The judge accepted Apple’s position that the throttling was intended to preserve user experience and that the discounted battery replacements satisfied Brazil’s consumer protection code. A related government investigation was closed for lack of evidence.20iDrop News. Brazilian Court Says Apple Did Nothing Wrong in Slowing Down Older iPhones
What Changed for iPhone Owners
The most tangible result for consumers came from the U.S. class action check of about $92 per eligible device, distributed starting in January 2024, and from the settlements and fines that pushed Apple to change how it handles battery-related performance. The Battery Health screen introduced in iOS 11.3 remains in the operating system, giving owners visibility into capacity and control over throttling. Apple’s cheaper battery replacement program ran worldwide through December 2018.21Apple Insider. Reminder: Apple’s $29 iPhone Battery Replacement Program Ends December 31
The scandal also fed into a wider regulatory shift. In 2021 Apple launched its Self Service Repair program, opening access to parts, tools, and manuals for the first time.22iFixit. Batterygate Timeline The European Union’s Right to Repair Directive, adopted in June 2024 with national application beginning in July 2026, requires manufacturers to repair products at a reasonable price and bars software techniques that impede repair without legitimate justification.23European Commission. Directive on Common Rules Promoting the Repair of Goods Apple now publishes energy and repairability metrics under EU rules and France’s AGEC circular economy law.24Apple. Apple Environment Answers
One boundary is worth flagging. The U.S. class action window closed years ago, and the state attorneys general settlement paid governments rather than individuals, so U.S. owners who did not file a claim during the original claims period cannot still collect for Batterygate. Cases in the UK and parts of continental Europe are the only ones where new payouts remain theoretically possible, and those are limited to residents of the relevant countries.