Apple Agrees To $53 Million Settlement In Faulty Liquid Sensor Lawsuit, Refunds Coming Soon

Apple has agreed to a $53 Million dollar settlement in a class action lawsuit involving faulty indicators showing that iPhones and iPods were exposed to water which allowed the company to deny customers’ warranty claims. At the heart of the case were claims that Apple used positive readings on a faulty liquid sensor. The sensors would normally allow Apple to refuse to repair a device even if it was under warranty. The plaintiffs in the case claimed that the liquid damage sensor on their iPhone or iPad showed a positive reading just from every day use, even if the unit in question was only used in the Sahara Desert and never came within an inch of water or any other liquid.

The case is In Re Apple Iphone/Ipod Warranty Litigation, 10-01610, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco), was originally brought forth by Charlene Gallion of San Francisco. Back in April of 2010, she took her non-functioning Apple iPhone 3G to an Apple Store and was told she could not receive a free repair or replacement because the Liquid Submersion Indicator had a positive reading, indicating that the device had been submerged in a liquid. It was later determined that the sensor were indeed malfunctioning creating false positives.

The class action suit covers those with a rejected warranty claim before December 31, 2009 with affected devices which include the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the first-, second and third-generation iPod Touch. Payouts are expected to be around $200 and could be less or double based on the number of claims submitted.


The settlement, which still requires the court's approval, will be held in a fund to be distributed among the 153,000 members of the class-action suit, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.