B.C. Supreme Court approves $14.4-million settlement of iPhone class-action lawsuit

VANCOUVER — A lawyer for a group of iPhone owners says a British Columbia judge has approved a countrywide multimillion-dollar settlement with tech giant Apple over software updates that allegedly slowed down older devices. 

Lawyer K.S. Garcha says class members who make claims on the $14.4-million settlement can expect to receive between $17.50 and $150 each, depending on how many people submit a claim for the settlement money. 

The settlement covers eligible residents of Canada except those in Quebec, which Garcha says could reach nine million people.

He says the settlement process took a couple of years, with Apple agreeing to a “compromise” without admitting any wrongdoing.

Garcha says the class-action lawsuit was a “complex matter” involving novel legal theories about the company putting software on devices without the owners’ consent. 

The B.C. lawsuit was originally filed in 2018, and Apple settled a similar case in the United States involving so-called throttling of iPhone 6 and 7 models, and Garcha says American class members ended up with US$92 payouts. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2024. 

The Canadian Press