Apple Settles Class-Action Lawsuit Over Faulty Liquid Sensors

After receiving a class-action lawsuit over denying warranties to owners based on faulty liquid detection sensors, Apple has agreed to pay $53 million to settle the suit with affected customers. The lawsuit came after the Cupertino-based company denied warranty claims from iPhone owners because the company detected water damage. However, the liquid sensors were actually faulty.

Those involved in the lawsuit are eligible to receive up to $300 in damages from Apple, depending on which iPhone model you own. A San Francisco court discovered that Apple's liquid submersion indicators in iPhone and iPod models could be triggered randomly by moisture from normal use, like on a humid day for instance. This ended up wrongly voiding the warranty on thousands of iOS devices.

While Apple has denied the allegations and said that the indicators were reliable, it seems they've went ahead and settled anyway to avoid getting involved deeper into the court case. Besides, $53 million is essentially pocket change to Apple. However, this isn't their first class-action suit, their most recent one dealing with "antennagate," where iPhone owners affected could get a free bumper case.

Customers whose warranty claims for their iPhones were denied (based on Apple's liquid damage policy) before December 31, 2009 (before June 2010 for iPod Touches) are eligible for settlement rewards. This means that those with an iPhone 4 or newer are not involved, and it only pertains to 1st-gen iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS owners who were denied warranty claims because of water damage.

SOURCE: Bloomberg