Australia fines Apple $6.7 million

A court in Australia has fined phone makers Apple for misleading iPhone and iPad owners over whether or not they were allowed to repair their devices.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the ruling from Australia’s Federal Court followed an action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), a government regulator, over the infamous “Error 53” issue which disabled some iPads and iPhones subjected to unofficial repairs.

Apple was fined $9 million in Australian dollars, which translates to $6.68 million in American dollars. The ruling concludes an ACCC suit filed last April.

Error 53 codes first appeared on iPhone 6 series units in early 2015, but the issue gained public notoriety when media outlets reported the supposed glitch in early 2016.

The ACCC lawsuit, which targeted codes resulting from screen repairs, specified an active case timeline between September 2014 and February 2016.