Judge Approves Settlement in iPod Class Action Suit

A San Mateo County judge on Thursday approved the settlement of a class action suit that will offer relief to as many as 1.3 million iPod owners who may have been victim to poor or defective batteries.

The original lawsuit, filed on behalf of US residents, alleged that Apple failed to disclose the battery limitations of its first three iPod models. "All these people are going to get relief, and we think that's a big victory for them," Steve Williams, lead counsel for the suit, and an attorney for Burlingame's Cotchett, Pitre, Simon & McCarthy told the San Mateo Times.

The settlement applies to consumers who purchased an iPod model on or before May 31, 2004 and saw the charge of their iPod battery drop to four hours or less on a third-generation iPod, or five hours or less on one of the first two generation models.Under the settlement, owners of either a first- or second-generation model are entitled to $25 cash or $50 credit at the Apple store. Meanwhile, owners who actually paid Apple to repair a battery in one of the players will be entitled to up to half of that cost back.

View: Apple iPod Claim Form