Vermont will receive $1.16 million as part of a settlement with Apple Inc. over allegations the tech giant knowingly deceived customers about iPhone battery issues in 2016.
Vermont’s share is part of a $113 million settlement involving over 30 attorneys general across the United States, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan announced Wednesday.
The coalition alleged that, in 2016, Apple discovered that battery issues were leading to unexpected shutdowns in the iPhone 6 and 7. Apple then allegedly hid these issues from consumers and implemented a software update in December 2016 that reduced iPhone performance to keep the phones from unexpectedly shutting down.
The problem affected 60 million iPhones, said Christopher Curtis, chief of the public protection division of the Attorney General’s Office, including 212,000 in Vermont.
“It’s a big number,” Curtis said. “iPhones are so ubiquitous these days, it’s a very popular item. As a consequence of that, we took this matter very seriously.”
The attorneys general say the decision not to inform consumers about the problem allowed Apple to profit from selling additional iPhones to people whose phone performance had slowed.
In a press release, Donovan called Apple’s actions “unfair, deceptive and unacceptable.”
“If you just thought your phone was glitchy or not working properly, you might be inclined to go out and purchase a new phone, whereas if you understand it’s a problem with the battery, you might have taken it to the Apple store or sought some other form of relief,” Curtis said.
The settlement requires that Apple not only make the monetary payment, but also provide truthful information to customers about iPhone battery health, performance and power management. The information must be provided on Apple’s website, in update installation notes, and in the iPhone user interface itself.
Curtis said companies like Apple have always been required to make accurate representations about their products. But with this clause, he said, Apple will be held to a higher standard, and the information must be made more obvious to iPhone users than it was previously.
“The fact that they knew this was happening is a big problem,” Curtis said. “Disclosure is the first line of consumer protection. Consumers ought to have everything above board, and understand that when they make a purchase, it’s going to perform as described. And when it doesn’t, that’s a problem.”
Apple also recently settled a class-action suit over the same conduct. In that settlement, the company will pay up to $500 million in restitution to affected customers. The deadline to file a claim through that settlement has already passed.
Read the story on VTDigger here: State settles with Apple for $1.2 million over deception about iPhone battery issues.