Apple to pay $53M settlement for iPhone warranty lawsuit

Apple has agreed to pay $53 million following a class action lawsuit that accused the company of failing to honor warranties on devices including their iPhone and iPod Touch lines, according to Wired.

The settlement is set to be filed in a San Francisco federal court later this month and would provide payouts to iPhone and iPod Touch users whose warranties were not honored by Apple. It could lead to payouts for hundreds of thousands of consumers.

Combined lawsuits in San Francisco said no matter the problem, Apple denied warranty coverage if the white indicator embedded in the phone had turned pink or red, indicating some form of water damage. 3M, manufacturer of the tape, said that humidity -- not necessarily water contact -- could have caused the tape to change color.

Apple chief litigation counsel Noreen Krall signed the agreement Wednesday. Affected devices include the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and first-, second- and third-generation iPod Touch. Payouts are expected to be $200 on average, and could fluctuate based on the number of submitted claims.