Apple agrees to pay $500m over claims it slowed down old iPhones

Apple has agreed to pay up to $500m (£391m) to settle a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of intentionally slowing down older iPhone models.

Phone owners could get up to $25 (£19.56) per handset if a California judge approves the settlement.

The smartphone maker and lawyers representing consumers agreed to a deal stemming from Apple's admission in 2017 that it was slowing down the performance of older devices in order to avoid unexpected shutdowns related to battery fatigue.

The admission saw Apple offering discounted battery replacements at $29 (£22.69).

But customers claimed they had already spent hundreds of dollars on replacing their handsets because Apple did not reveal why their phones were slowing down.
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Some consumers in the case said they may not have bought new phones if they had known they could just buy new batteries.

Apple did not admit wrongdoing.