San Francisco, May 16 (IANS): Apples up to $500 million deal to end several lawsuits accusing the company of slowing down certain older iPhone models with software updates has received preliminary nod, but the deadline for final approval got extended by a few weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a report in Law360, US District Judge Edward J. Davila during a hearing held on Friday via video conferencing told both the parties to discuss about a new date for a final settlement approval hearing that would take place sometime in December.

Apple in 2017 had admitted that it occasionally slowed down certain iPhone models with older batteries to avoid unexpected shutdowns.

The suits generally accuse the iPhone maker of diminishing the battery life of older devices with software updates, just as it launched new models.

Apple denied any wrongdoing, but agreed for the settlement.

The $500 million settlement meant for affected iPhone owners is equivalent to $25 per impacted iPhone.

The lawsuit covers current and former owners of the iPhone SE, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7 and 7 Plus, who were running the iOS 10.2.1 operating system, 9to5Mac reported.

The iPhone maker in 2017 said that the update was necessary to prevent an unexpected shutdown and preserve the life of the devices.

However, it also apologised for not communicating to users properly and offered affected customers cut-price iPhone battery replacements.