Apple has agreed an $18 million deal to settle a class action lawsuit in California that accused it of intentionally breaking FaceTime on older iPhones.
Through the settlement, 90% of the class action members will receive compensation, either through the mail or electronically. 3.6 million devices are said to have been affected by the update, and each class member will receive an estimated $3.
The class action lawsuit in California accused Apple of intentionally breaking FaceTime on iPhones running older versions of iOS. Essentially, Apple switched the technical backend of FaceTime with iOS 7 to lower its server costs. “That decision left iPhone users stuck with a choice between a sluggish device or losing the ability to use FaceTime,” the [Law360] report explains.
MacDailyNews Take: Class action members, don’t spend it all in one place!
iOS 7 was supported on devices as old as iPhone 4 and iPad 2, so, if the claims are true, the only valid complainers would’ve had to have iPhone 3GS or older iPhones in September 2013 when iOS 7 was released (the first-generation iPad had no cameras, negating its ability to use FaceTime). iPhone 3GS was released June 19, 2009, so these oh-so-aggrieved users were packing at least 4.5-year old iPhones when Apple supposedly conspired to “break” FaceTime.
In other words: Puleeze. — MacDailyNews, February 3, 2017