Wisconsin Part of Multi-Million Settlement With Apple

Thursday, November 19th, 2020 -- 1:00 PM

(WMTV) -Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, along with a coalition of 30 attorneys general, reached a $113 million agreement with Apple Inc. over iPhone battery issues that lead to unexpected shutdowns.

Under this agreement, Apple will pay Wisconsin over $3.2 million.  The coalition led a multi-state investigation regarding a 2016 decision by Apple to throttle users’ iPhone speeds in order to address the unexpected shutdowns.  The attorneys general allege that rather than disclosing that these issues existed or replacing batteries, the company hid these issues from users. The DOJ noted that Apple’s concealment of this issue led to a software update in 2016, which reduced iPhone performance to try to keep the phones from shutting down.  The investigation also alleges that this decision led to Apple profiting from selling additional iPhones to consumers whose phone performance had slowed.  Kaul stated that companies cannot “deceive consumers” by covering up problems with their products and this agreement will hold the company accountable.

The DOJ continued, saying Apple must also provide truthful information to consumers about iPhone battery health, performance and power management. This information must be posted in various forms on their website, in update installation notes and in the iPhone user interface.  The department added that Apple recently entered into a proposed settlement of class action litigation related to the same conduct and Apple would pay up to $500 million in restitution for consumers under that proposed settlement.

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