Apple is agreeing to pay $53 million to
settle a class action accusing the company of failing to honor warranties on
iPhones and iPod Touches, according to an agreement obtained today by Wired.
The settlement, (.pdf) set to be filed in a San Francisco
federal court in the coming weeks, provides cash payouts to potentially
hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPod Touch consumers who found Apple
unwilling to repair or replace their faulty phones under Apple’s one-year
standard, or a two-year extended, warranty. Apple chief litigation counsel
Noreen Krall signed the agreement Wednesday. Apple admits no wrongdoing in the
settlement, which needs a judge’s approval.
According to several lawsuits combined
in San Francisco, no matter what the problem, Apple refused to honor warranties
if a white indicator tape embedded in the phone near the headphone or charging
portals had turned pink or red. However, the tape’s maker, 3M, said humidity,
and not water contact, could have caused the color to at least turn pink.
Affected devices include the original
iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the first-, second and third-generation iPod
Touch. Payouts are around $200 and could be less or double based on the number
of claims submitted.
Lead counsel for the plaintiffs,
Jeffrey Fazio, declined to be quoted on the deal because the settlement is not
public. Apple did not immediately respond to a telephone inquiry late Thursday. [Source]
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