Apple has reached a $95 million settlement on a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed that the company violated Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act and other U.S. laws. According to court documents accessed by MacRumors, Apple provided customers with refurbished replacement devices.
Apple’s repair policy (refurbished devices)
According to company policy, Apple may use parts or products that are new or refurbished and equivalent to new in performance and reliability when servicing a customer product. The petitioner alleges that refurbished or “remanufactured” devices are not equivalent to new performance and reliability. Because of this, they were seeking monetary damages from Apple.
Under the settlement, any U.S. residents who receive a refurbished replacement device will receive a portion of the settlement. The replacement device must go through the AppleCare Protection Plan or AppleCare+ on or after July 20, 2012. After approval from the court, the settlement fund will be distributed equally among eligible U.S. residents based on the number of refurbished replacement devices they have.
After deducting the attorney fees and other costs, the total compensation will be around $63.4 million – $68.1 million. Eligible U.S. residents will be contacted through email. Details of the settlement will be available at ReplacementDeviceLawsuit.com. Despite opting to settle the lawsuit, Apple has denied that refurbished devices are inferior. The company did so to save on the time and costs associated with a continued trial.
Recent troubles
The case of Maldonado v. Apple was first filed in July 2016 and will likely conclude on October 20. In recent times, Apple has been facing a lot of problems due to its strict closed-off policies. The EU has also passed laws that make it mandatory to add USB-C ports to its products. There are also various cases involving Apple’s 30% commission for its app store. This also includes the infamous Apple vs. Epic case.
