Apple to pay $53M over iPhone warranty lawsuit

If you’ve ever had an issue with Apple refusing to honor your iPhone or iPod Touch warranty, you could soon have some settlement dollars coming your way.

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Apple has agreed to pay $53 million to settle a class action lawsuit in San Francisco, Wired reports.

At issue was Apple’s refusal to cover devices under warranty — either the standard one-year coverage or extended two-year plan — that it believed were water damaged. Warranties for Apple and many other device makers typically cover standard usage malfunctions like cracked screens, but not water damage.

The company relied on white indicator tapes inside of its devices that would turn pink or red upon water contact. But according to 3M, the manufacturer of that indicator tape, humidity can also cause it to turn pink. Now that it’s no longer certain that the tape shows water damage, Apple had no choice but to offer the settlement.

The settlement applies to owners of Apple’s first iPhone up to its 3GS model, as well as the second and third-gen iPod Touch. According to Wired, settlement payouts will be around $200, but could be reduced or doubled depending on how many people make claims.

Photo: Hakan Dahlstrom/Flickr