Apple To Pay IL $3.4 Million Over Throttling Of iPhone Speeds

CHICAGO — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday announced a $113 million settlement with Apple over the cellphone company's throttling of processor speeds in their iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 models. Illinois will receive about $3.4 million of that money.

Based on an investigation involving 33 states and the District of Columbia, Raoul alleged that Apple discovered battery issues were leading to unexpected shutdowns of some models of their phones, but decided to keep that information secret.

"Rather than disclosing the problems or providing replacement batteries, Apple concealed the issue from consumers," according to a news release. "In an effort to stop the unexpected shutdowns without disclosing the problem, Apple instead offered a software update in December 2016 that reduced iPhones’ performance."

Apple was then able to profit by selling additional iPhones to users who thought they needed an upgrade, when in reality a new battery would have solved their issues, Raoul argued in court.

“Apple knowingly withheld information from consumers in an effort to sell more phones and increase profits,” he said in a statement. “Today’s settlement holds Apple accountable for taking advantage of consumers and ensures that protections are in place so consumers can be well-informed when making purchases.”

Apple previously agreed to a $500 million settlement in a separate class action suit, promising to pay iPhone 6 and 7 users $25 each. Under the new settlement, Apple will pay $113 million to the states named in the suit: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In addition, under the terms of the settlement, Apple must provide consumers with accurate information about iPhone battery health, performance and power management.

"This important information must be detailed in various forms on Apple’s website, in update installation notes, and in the iPhone user interface itself," according to the news release.