Apple to Pay $95 Million in iPhone and iPad AppleCare Warranty Settlement
In 2016, a lawsuit was filed against Apple over its AppleCare Warranty. Smartphone and tablet buyers say that Apple gave them lower quality replacements for their broken devices. Now affected customers are closer to getting a payout.
Apple customers claim that the tech giant didn’t honor its AppleCare Warranty when it replaced the devices with inferior “remanufactured” ones. They are asking for a $95 million settlement with the company. Plaintiffs Vicky Maldonado and Justin Carter filed a motion for preliminary approval of the Apple settlement in a California federal court on Oct. 1.
The class includes all U.S. residents who purchased an AppleCare Protection Plan or AppleCare+, either directly or through the iPhone Upgrade Program, on or after July 20, 2012, and received a refurbished replacement device. If approved, the settlement fund will be divided equally among the class members based on the number of refurbished replacement devices they received.
Eligible class members would likely get about $65 million once administrative costs, incentive awards, and attorneys’ fees and costs have been deducted from the total award.
Apple “vigorously denied” that refurbished devices are inferior, but it opted to settle with the plaintiffs given the time and costs that would be associated with a continued trial.
Details
The Apple Warranty Class Action Lawsuit is Maldonado et al. v. Apple Inc. et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-04067, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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