Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit regarding the antennagate problem of iPhone 4. iPhone 4 customers will be compensated in the form of a $15 check or a free bumper case from Apple.
When Apple released iPhone 4 in June of 2010, most of the users experienced reception problems. The signals appeared to weaken or totally disappear on holding the phone in a certain way. Initially Apple declined to accept the problem but later on the late CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs announced in a crowded press conference that the problem was not limited to the iPhone 4 and was rather spread industry-wide. He addressed the problem by offering a full refund to the buyers or a free bumper case. Apple also released an iOS update for iPhone 4 which altered the way signals were displayed on the iPhone 4 and started to show more signal bars for the same signal strength.
A total of 18 lawsuits were filed against Apple which were combined in a class-action lawsuit collectively stating that Apple was “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.”
The consolidated lawsuit was heard in the court of Judge Ronald Whyte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in San Jose. The court has ruled in favor of the lawsuits submitted against Apple giving customers the compensation in the form a $15 check or a free bumper case but the final approval hearing is still pending for July 13. A separate site will be published at iphone4settlement.com containing information on how to claim the compensation. The claim period would start on April 30 and would last for 120 days.
Some customers already got the free bumper cases from Apple back in 2010, those customers are not eligible for another case or the $15 check. Mashable has talked to Apple’s Director of iPhone Public Relations Natalie Harrison, who said:
“This settlement relates to a small number of customers who indicated 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.”
Harrison might be saying between the lines that only the customers who officially registered their complaints about the signal problems would get the compensation but we’d only know once iPhone4settlement.com goes live.
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