The Apple watch revolutionized the world of wearable technology when it first came out, it was the first one of their class and users were discovering a new way to use their phones and connect them to the world. But not everything was roses and sunshine, these first watches had a very serious flaw in their battery which tended to swell. Those affected by the problem decided to sue the company in a class action suit that has recently been settled.
The lawsuit was centered around the battery issues that affected the Original, Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Apple Watch models. All of these had the same problem with battery swelling, which was not just dangerous for the users given that batteries can explode, but it also could push the screen out of place and cause other parts of the watch to stop working properly.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and eventually led to Apple agreeing to a $20 million settlement. The company did not admit to any fault, in fact, in their public statement, Apple stood by the safety and reliability of their products, but they decided against the hassle and cost of going through a full court battle and agreed to the payout for affected customers just to put the whole thing to rest.
The Apple watch class action suit
The suit centers around the older Apple Watch models that experienced battery swelling between April 24, 2015, and February 6, 2024. As long as your issue was reported to Apple and documented in their system you may have qualified for some compensation, as that reporting was set as the main requirement to qualify for any payments. This means if you contacted Apple Support or went in for a repair you might be able to claim a piece of the settlement.
Most people who are eligible will have received a notice from Apple letting them know they could file a claim, as they have taken their repair records as the base to decide who qualifies, but even if that notification did not reach you, as long as you can provide proof that your case was on file with Apple you could still qualify. However, those who have not submitted their claims are out of luck, the final deadline to submit a claim was March 24, 2025.
Just like other class action suits, compensation is limited and depends on the number of people that have filed and have been deemed affected by the issue. The compensation per device varied depending on how many people submitted valid claims but most people could expect somewhere between $20 and $50 per watch. However, if the total claims went over a certain threshold, the money was to be split up among all claimants, which could affect how much each person received and if fewer people filed, some could receive the max of $50 per watch.
For those who got their claims in before the deadline, Apple was set to notify them by email or postcard about their payout and hey could then choose how they wanted to receive their money, either via a physical check, electronic check, direct deposit (ACH), or even a virtual prepaid Visa or MasterCard.
As with other settlements, if you accepted the terms you gave up your right to sue Apple for this specific issue again in the future. If you had had any further issues or injuries related to the problem and had wanted to sue separately you should have had to opt out of the settlement before the deadline.