Moisture sensors tripped by humidity
Sweaty palms from over-excitement at a new iDevice?
Apple has reached a settlement with iPhone and iPod touch owners who claimed that Cupertino unfairly denied them warranty coverage when their iDevice's moisture sensor indicated water damage. "Class Counsel and Plaintiffs ... are pleased to report that, after extensive discovery, negotiation, and mediation, they have …
Basic estimation. The payouts for the different device types average out to about $200 per device. There are an estimated 153,105 devices, making approximately $30 million in estimated payout to customers. That leaves approximately $23 mil for the lawyers.
Now this is just an estimate, but you can be sure they're getting something in that order of magnitude.
So, 'Approximately 153,105' iDevices went faulty and were taken back to the shop only to be denied repair or replacement due to the moisture detector being over sensitive.
How many in total went wrong?
For a company that produces expensive high end gear, they seem to have a lot of duff stuff.
Troll icon noted - did you bother looking at Apples claimed sales figures. Try iPods only:
September 2009 – 220 million
April 2008 – 152 million
October 2007 – 120 million
September 2007 – 110 million
April 2007 – 100 million
January 2006 – 42 million
November 2005 – 30 million
March 2005 – 15 million
December 2004– 10 million
So that's 799 MILLION. And doesn't include iPhones. 153,105 doesn't seems such a big percentage, does it.
If you're going to troll, at least do it with a semblance of integrity.
"So that's 799 MILLION...153,105 doesn't seems such a big percentage, does it."
That 153,105 is only the ones Apple currently knows about. That's also only those returns with a tripped sensor where, I assume, the sensor is the only evidence of liquid damage. I suspect if it had really been dunked then there'd be other signs evident inside the device.
No doubt it's still a minuscule percentage of sales but I suspect the actual number could well be significantly higher that that agreed.
@Velv: Check the article. The settlement only applies to the iPod TOUCH and some iPhones, not all iPods.
Referencing the "never wrong" Wikipedia [1], about 100 million iPod Touches have been sold (including later gen models not covered). It says approximately 250 iPhone units have been sold (also including later gen models not covered. Granted, with those numbers, the percentage is still pretty small, but 350 million is a lot smaller than 800 million.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_Touch
Tell you what. On behalf of the US government, I'm prepared to offer you this Apple settlement for free! You even get a revised extradition treaty, new copyright laws, a great drug war --
What's that? You just want the settlement? I don't know -- it's a package deal.... Let me talk to my supervisor...
Nah, sorry, he says if that's all you want you'll have to sue Apple in your own court.
Sure I can't interest you in an extreme rendition partnership policy? Have it your way, then.