Apple Watch Swollen Battery Settlement Payments Arriving This Week

U.S. Apple Watch owners who signed up to receive a payment from an Apple lawsuit settlement over swollen batteries have started receiving their money this week.

apple watch series 3
The lawsuit was filed in 2021, but Apple agreed to pay a $20 million settlement in January of this year to avoid further legal fees. Apple Watch Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 owners had until April 10 to submit claims, but anyone who had reported a battery swelling issue to Apple was automatically eligible for a payment.

Payments are being distributed in the form of a prepaid Mastercard, so if you receive an unexpected email about the Smith et.al v. Apple Inc. Settlement with an included prepaid card, that's what it is. Apple Watch owners were supposed to receive $20 minimum with the potential for more based on the number of claims, and one Reddit user said they received a little over $25.

The lawsuit suggested that early Apple Watch models had a design defect with the battery and the display. Battery swelling could put pressure on the Apple Watch face, causing the display to detach. The plaintiffs claimed that this led to operational failures and injuries from the "razor-sharp edges" of broken screens.

Apple was accused of knowing about the defect and selling the Apple Watch models anyway, with the plaintiffs seeking general, special, incidental, statutory, punitive, and consequential damages, as well as the costs for replacing their Apple Watches. While Apple settled, the company denies any wrongdoing and denies that the Apple Watches had issues.

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Top Rated Comments

robfoll Avatar
7 weeks ago
Bloody annoying that this is US only. I lived in the UK and my original Apple Watch was destroyed by a swollen battery.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F23 Avatar
7 weeks ago
My Series 0 died like this after 4 years
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
7 weeks ago

I would not be paying Masimo a dime. That company is comping across as shifty. Plus I think this was all to bring attention to their own wearable device.
How so? Masimo has had blood oxygen sensors in doctors offices etc. for far longer than Apple has included them on their watches. Plus Apple was unable to come up with a sensor of their own until they first partnered w/ Masimo and then subsequently hired away Masimo engineers, who brought knowledge of the company's technical secrets with them.

The company that seems shifty here really appears to be Apple.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unity451 Avatar
7 weeks ago
I got an email that went to my junk mail folder that I just happened to stumble upon. Boy was I nervous though. It looked like a scam.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
danny842003 Avatar
7 weeks ago
The things that annoys me about this is it essentially does nothing for Apple or the consumer but I bet some lawyer has done quite well out of it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrRom92 Avatar
7 weeks ago
I got my check in the mail yesterday. I had this happen to not only one watch, but actually TWO series 0 watches - and I still have one of them with the screen popped off to show for it. It seems whatever batteries they used for these watches were very problematic, it’s amazing that apple denies the issue when it was this widespread. They are lucky the battery issues weren’t more severe than they already were.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)