felt that Apple should have made the battery replacements be free, arguing that it "would go a long way towards erasing widespread suspicion that Apple purposely tries to make its older products obsolete in order to coax consumers into buying new ones." As of January 2018, 32 class action lawsuits had been filed against Apple over this issue. A Chicago lawyer who proposed a $5 million class-action considered the battery discount "an insult to loyal customers who consistently and with much fanfare have flocked to Apple stores worldwide to purchase every version of the iPhone." In January 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company had cut its earnings projections due to "fewer iPhone upgrades than we had anticipated", as well as lower-than-anticipated revenue in markets such as China. On February 7, 2020, French consumer authorities fined Apple €25 million following a formal investigation into the decision. On February 28, 2020, Apple agreed to a $500 million settlement in a California court, under which it plans to pay at least $25 to all U.S. residents who had purchased an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7 or 7 Plus device . A separate investigation from 34 states and the District of Columbia also looked into the battery practice. The investigation concluded in November 2020 with Apple and the states agreeing for Apple to pay a fine related to throttling performance on the devices, and for Apple to issue documents to be transparent about how it throttles performance. See also Antennagate Planned obsolescence Durapolist Vendor lock-in Criticism of Apple Inc. References External links Apple Inc. Battery (electricity)