Apple has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit over battery swelling on the Apple Watch. Filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Northern District of California in 2019, the swimsuit alleges that the issue affected the primary 4 Apple Watch fashions.
Battery swelling is just about what it feels like: a buildup of warmth and gasoline contained in the lithium-ion battery, inflicting its partitions to develop. The phenomenon can, in flip, injury or break different elements within the system because it grows inside the tightly-packed area.
Apple continues to disclaim the difficulty, stating that it solely paid so as to keep away from future authorized charges from a swimsuit that stretched on for greater than 5 years.
“Apple denies the entire allegations made within the lawsuit, denies that the lined watches skilled any points associated to battery swell, and denies that Apple did something improper or illegal,” the court docket notes. “Apple asserts quite a few defenses to the claims on this case. The proposed settlement to resolve this case will not be an request for forgiveness or wrongdoing of any sort by Apple.”
The corporate had even stronger phrases in a press release despatched to TechCrunch, stating,
Apple Watch is designed to be secure and dependable. This settlement applies to purchasers of Unique Apple Watch, Sequence 1, Sequence 2, and Sequence 3, that are now not obtainable for buy. Whereas we strongly disagree with the claims made in opposition to these early technology Apple Watch fashions, we agreed to settle to keep away from additional litigation.
To qualify for payout, customers have to have alerted Apple customer support to the difficulty between April 24, 2015 and February 6, 2024. Eligible events should reside within the U.S. They are going to obtain notification through postcard or electronic mail. Compensation is predicated on what number of complaints the impacted social gathering filed in the course of the above window, with class funds starting from $20 to $50.
Watch homeowners should additional submit fee info to the lawsuit’s official site earlier than April 10, 2025 to obtain fee.
The settlement comes per week after Google-owned Fitbit was required to pay a $12.25 million penalty as a result of battery overheating on its Ionic smartwatch.