Remember “Antennagate,” the iPhone 4 controversy where then-CEO Steve Jobs reportedly told an inquisitive user that they were “holding it wrong”? Those were good times, but for most of us, Antennagate faded into the history books after Apple handed out free cases. Legally, however, things have only just now come to a close.
Cnet is reporting that a class-action lawsuit against Apple over the iPhone 4 has finally ended in a settlement. So what can original iPhone 4 users hope to gain from the legal system that they didn’t get from Apple originally? How about $15 or… a(nother) free case.
“The settlement comes from 18 separate lawsuits that were consolidated into one,” Cnet notes. “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.’”
For most iPhone 4 users, the antenna controversy, which was quickly dubbed “Antennagate,” was quelled just as quickly as it flared up when Apple held a press conference to demonstrate how other cell phone models have the same issues. What had a more lasting effect on consumers was the company’s offer to allow returns of the device with a full refund or accept a free case courtesy of Apple.
By the end of the free case offer two months later, Antennagate was but a memory -- except for Ira Rothken, the co-lead counsel handling the class-action lawsuit against the iPhone maker.
"We believe that the Apple iPhone 4 settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable," Rothken told CNET. "We believe that it allows members of the class to choose, and they can get $15 of cash or a bumper, so we believe that type of choice is proportional to the circumstances."
Emails will be sent to original iPhone 4 buyers in the weeks to come with instructions on how to make a claim at iPhone4Settlement.com, a website that currently doesn’t go anywhere. Owners of the device will have 120 days to claim either a $15 check payment or a free bumper case.
So what does Apple have to say on the subject? "This settlement relates to a small number of customers who indicated that they experienced antenna or reception issues with their iPhone 4, and didn't want to take advantage of a free case from Apple when it was being offered in 2010,” a representative told Cnet.
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