Apple reaches settlement on iPhone 4 antennagate lawsuit

PanARMENIAN.Net - A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit targeting the antenna performance of Apple's iPhone 4, CNET reports.

As part of a preliminary approval, U.S. residents who bought Apple's iPhone 4 will be entitled to $15 in cash or a bumper case provided by Apple.

The settlement comes from 18 separate lawsuits that were consolidated into one. All share the claim that Apple was "misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4 - particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software."

The settlement has its own Web site, www.iPhone4Settlement.com, which will be up in the coming weeks (the site doesn't go anywhere right now). There, customers will be able to get information about the settlement and how to make a claim. As part of the arrangement, e-mails will also be sent alerting original buyers to the settlement before April 30, 2012. The claims period is then open for 120 days.

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, owners began posting videos of themselves holding the phone tightly, showing that the device would eventually lose some reception, something that was criticized as being a hardware flaw.