The British Columbia Supreme Court has approved a countrywide multimillion-dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Apple over software updates that allegedly slowed down older iPhones.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e pleased with the results,含羞草研究社� said K.S. Garcha, a lawyer for the class. 含羞草研究社淚t was a complex matter.含羞草研究社�

Garcha said in an interview that the judge in the case approved the settlement at a hearing Tuesday.

Class members who make claims on the $14.4-million settlement can expect to receive between $17.50 and $150 each, depending on how many people submit a claim for the settlement money, he said.

The agreement covers eligible residents of Canada except those in Quebec, which Garcha said is about nine million people.

The settlement process took a couple of years, with Apple agreeing to a 含羞草研究社渃ompromise含羞草研究社� without admitting any wrongdoing, Garcha said.

Going to trial rather than settling could含羞草研究社檝e taken 含羞草研究社渁 long period of time,含羞草研究社� he said.

含羞草研究社淭he court may not approve some of the claims that you含羞草研究社檙e making, there含羞草研究社檚 an issue with regards to how the damages were quantified, there are potential appeals, he said.

The company 含羞草研究社渧igorously defended the thing up until the settlement negotiations,含羞草研究社� Garcha added.

He said the class-action lawsuit involved novel legal theories about the company putting software on devices without the owners含羞草研究社� consent.

People who owned iPhone models covered by the settlement have six months to make a claim, and the online process requires a person含羞草研究社檚 name, address and iPhone serial number.

People also have to declare under oath that they downloaded or installed certain software updates on a variety of iPhone 6 and 7 models before Dec. 21, 2017.

They would have also had to have 含羞草研究社渆xperienced diminished performance on that device after the relevant iOS version was installed or downloaded.含羞草研究社�

The settlement agreement with Apple will see the company pay out between $11,137,500 and $14,427,500 depending on how many claims are made and approved.

The claims website for the 含羞草研究社淐anadian iPhone Power Management Class Action,含羞草研究社� says Quebec residents are excluded from the settlement because there含羞草研究社檚 a separate, ongoing case before the courts in that province.

The B.C. lawsuit was originally filed in 2018, and Apple settled a similar case in the United States involving so-called throttling of iPhone 6 and 7 models, and Garcha said American class members ended up with US$92 payouts.

At a hearing in Vancouver in late January, Apple含羞草研究社檚 lawyer Jill Yates told the court the company has never admitted wrongdoing.

含羞草研究社淎pple, throughout, has taken a position that it has done nothing wrong here,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淭hese claims are novel and they are not ones where Apple agrees that anything was wrongfully done.含羞草研究社�

The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment about the settlement approval.

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