Apple Files Documents in $53M iPhone Moisture Sensor Settlement

Apple has filed the required documents to move forward with its US$53 million settlement in a class action lawsuit that accused the company of refusing iPhone warranty repairs over faulty moisture sensor readings. The company agreed to the settlement terms earlier this year, but hadn't yet submitted the documents to the court indicating that it intends to pay the settlement amount.

Apple gets closer to wrapping up a class action lawsuit over faulty iPhone moisture sensorsApple gets closer to wrapping up a class action lawsuit over faulty iPhone moisture sensors

The lawsuit was filed after several Apple custmers were denied warranty repairs when the moisture sensors in their iPhones were triggered even though they hadn't suffered water damage. It appeared that in some cases the sensor strips were changing color and showing a flase positive for internal moisture damage that was actually just a side effect of normal condensation in very humid environments.

iPhone owners that were wrongly denied warranty repairs could recieve up to $300 depending on which model they owned, according to Bloomberg. To qualify for payment in the class action lawsuit, iPhone owners need to have been denied warranty coverage before December 31, 2009, and iPod touch owners need to have been denied coverage earlier than June 2010.

The court must still approve the settlement terms, which presumably will happen in the coming weeks.