A judge in British Columbia will decide next month whether to approve a multimillion-dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Apple for allegedly slowing down older model iPhones with its software updates.

Lawyers for the company and class members in a lawsuit originally filed in 2018 were in a Vancouver courtroom Monday, urging approval of the settlement, where consumers would receive between $17.50 and $150, depending on the number of claims that are successful.

Michael Peerless, a lawyer for the class, told Justice Sharon Matthews that the amounts will be paid out to those who can prove ownership of affected phones that include several iPhone 6 and 7 models.

He said the settlement was 91裸聊视频渉ard fought91裸聊视频� after 91裸聊视频渓engthy and difficult negotiations91裸聊视频� with the company, and said the amounts proposed to be paid out is 91裸聊视频渋n the range that a consumer should hope for.91裸聊视频�

Peerless told the judge that similar litigation in the United States provided a 91裸聊视频渧aluable road map91裸聊视频� during settlement negotiations, which could see Apple pay out a maximum of about $14.4 million to class members.

Similar lawsuits were filed in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The settlement agreement would apply for residents in all provinces except Quebec.

The U.S. case in California saw the company settle with iPhone users whose devices were throttled by software updates, diminishing the phones91裸聊视频� performance and battery life.

The California case settlement range was between $310 million and $500 million.

Peerless said the claims process will be very 91裸聊视频渟imple,91裸聊视频� with an online and paper-based option for people to use if they bought devices that had slow performance and battery issues.

91裸聊视频淚t provides real, not massively large, but real monetary benefits. It91裸聊视频檚 not a coupon settlement, this is cash and it offers reasonable recovery for what class members suffered,91裸聊视频� Peerless said.

It would91裸聊视频檝e taken 91裸聊视频渕ultiple more years91裸聊视频� to get paid out had the case gone to trial, he said, and there91裸聊视频檇 be no guarantee of success or a bigger payout had they gone that route.

91裸聊视频淭he damages in a case like this are difficult to quantify,91裸聊视频� Peerless said. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 no real judicial guidance for something like this. We91裸聊视频檙e never going to have a Supreme Court of Canada trilogy about what damages are for a slowed down smartphone.

91裸聊视频淏ut what we were able to do is to negotiate the maximum amount achievable for a very large number of class members in this case,91裸聊视频� he said.

He said notice of the settlement was provided to about nine million class members by email, and 10,000 by physical mail, while also receiving 91裸聊视频渟ignificant media coverage.91裸聊视频�

Jill Yates, a lawyer for Apple, told the court the company has never admitted wrongdoing.

91裸聊视频淎pple, throughout, has taken a position that it has done nothing wrong here,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淭hese claims are novel and they are not ones where Apple agrees that anything was wrongfully done.91裸聊视频�

The judge has reserved her decision on approving the settlement until Feb. 21, 2024.

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