If you had an iPhone 7 with audio problems, your settlement deadline is soon

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Earlier in 2024, Apple agreed to settle a class action suit over audio issues with the iPhone 7 — but conditions are very limited and the time to apply is almost over.

It was the "Audio IC Defect," also known as the 'loop disease,' and affected users had greyed-out speaker buttons while on a call. Plus they had loss of Siri voice commands, the Voice Memos app wouldn't work, and microphone audio quality degraded.

The class action lawsuit that followed took six years to conclude with Apple agreeing to settle for a total of $35 million. Affected users were sent a postcard by the settlement administrator, and anyone receiving it has up to Monday, June 3, 2024, to respond.

Anyone responding to the card has until Monday, June 3, 2024, to respond.

However, as well as only people who received the postcard being potentially eligible, the number of qualifying users was limited by Apple's conditions:

Must have owned iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus between September 16, 2016, and January 3, 2023
Have documentation showing they complained to Apple
Must have paid Apple for a repair or replacement

Users who tick all of those boxes will ultimately receive a sum between $50 and $349. Members of the class action suit who complained but did not pay for repairs, will get up to $125.

The decision on amounts, and who will get them, is subject to a Final Approval Hearing. That will take place on July 18, 2024.

There is no indication yet when they will receive the money, however. Following the settlement of the "batterygate" suit, payments took around a year to be sent out.