Apple settles class action suit filed by iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus users for $35 million

More money from an Apple settlement is about to get distributed among iPhone users. This time, Apple has settled a class action lawsuit with those who owned an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus between September 16, 2016, and January 3, 2023. The plaintiffs had various issues with their devices and the handsets affected were sold between early 2017 and late 2018. Apple settled the suit for $35 million.

The issues that plaintiffs dealt with included speaker buttons that were "grayed out" and disabled during phone calls, the inability of Siri to respond to voice commands, the failure of the Voice Memos app to work correctly, the loss of microphone fidelity, and other problems related to audio on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus . Some of these problems were caused by iOS 11.3 according to a leaked memo that Apple sent to authorized repair centers.

Besides having owned an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus between September 16, 2016 and January 3, 2023, class members must have a documented complaint with Apple regarding the speaker issues, or they must have paid Apple to repair or replace their device. Postcards are being mailed and emails are being sent by the Settlement Administrator (via AppleInsider) to people it believes are qualified to receive a share of the settlement fund.

If you receive a postcard or an email regarding the settlement, you have until June 3rd to let the Settlement Administrator know "whether you elect to receive the payment by electronic check, ACH transfer, or physical check, and provide the corresponding e-mail address, banking information, or mailing address for the payment's distribution." If you fail to reveal which payment method you'll accept, you will not get a settlement claim and will forfeit any opportunity to sue Apple for this issue.

If you inform the Settlement Administrator by June 3rd of your decision to opt out of the settlement, you will not get a share of the settlement payments but you will still have the opportunity to sue Apple. Even if you don't opt out of the settlement, you can send a letter to the court by June 3rd that explains what you do not like about the settlement. Or, you can object to the settlement and request to speak at a hearing on July 18th where the parties will request that the Final Approval Order be entered approving the Settlement.

It should be noted that just because Apple settled the suit for $35 million, it doesn't mean that the "Settlement Class" will split that amount. As usual, during class action suits, the lawyers take their cuts before the remaining cash is doled out to the public.