14 DAY TRIAL // After “misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4–particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software,” Apple agreed to pay $15 to every iPhone 4 owner in a class action lawsuit that ended last week.
The settlement can be reviewed at www.iPhone4Settlement.com when the site goes live in the coming weeks.
Customers will be able to get information about the settlement and apply for their $15 compensation, should they be affected as well.
E-mails will be sent to all iPhone 4 buyers until April 30, 2012, and the claims period is then open for 120 days, according to Cnet.
Co-lead counsel Ira Rothken, who represents the class, said “We believe that the Apple iPhone 4 settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable.
Apple said “This settlement relates to a small number of customers who indicated that they experienced antenna or reception issues with their iPhone 4 and didn’t want to take advantage of a free case from Apple while it was being offered in 2010.”
Rothken further added, “We believe that it allows members of the class to choose, and they can get $15 of cash or a bumper, so we believe that type of choice is proportional to the circumstances.”
The Antennagate fiasco was kicked off in 2010 by Consumer Reports who refused to rate the iPhone 4 as “recommended” due to alleged issues with the phone’s cellular reception.
The Cupertino company, then run by CEO Steve Jobs, quickly arranged a meeting with the media to try and convince the public that there was no real problem with the device, though many tests on the iPhone’s antenna begged to differ.
In the end, Apple ceded to offer free Bumper cases to all iPhone 4 owners who believed they experienced reception issues. The Bumper acted as a cover for the phone’s outer antenna, preventing the user’s skin from interfering with cellular signals.