NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday approved a settlement in which Apple could begin paying $400 million to as many as 23 million consumers related to charges that it violated antitrust law by conspiring with publishers to raise e-book prices and thwart efforts by Amazon.
In the hearing Friday, Judge Denise L. Cote, a US district judge in Manhattan, approved an unusual settlement reached this summer in which Apple agreed to pay $400 million to consumers in cash and e-book credits, and $50 million to lawyers.
Those figures could still change, however, if an Appeals Court overturns a 2013 verdict in the antitrust case, in which Apple was found to have conspired with five major publishers to fix the price of e-books.
The Appeals Court, which will hear Apple’s challenge Dec. 15, is not expected to change its previous ruling.
In the event the Appeals Court overturns the verdict and returns the case to Cote, Apple would pay only $50 million to consumers and $20 million to the lawyers.
Apple initially agreed to pay up to $400 million to settle the class action in June, ahead of a damages trial set for two months later in which attorneys general in 33 states and class-action lawyers were expected to seek up to $840 million.
In the hearing Friday, Cote called the deal an “unusually structured settlement, especially for one arrived at on the eve of trial.”
The suit was initiated by the Justice Department in 2012.
The settlement appeared to reflect fatigue by Apple, the Justice Department, state attorneys general, and class-action lawyers eager to reach a conclusion in a case that has dragged on, in large part because of delays by Apple.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the settlement Friday.
The suit accused Apple of being a “ringmaster” of a conspiracy with the five major publishers to raise the average price of e-books and break free from the $9.99 price that Amazon had made standard for new e-book releases.
Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and the Hachette Book Group settled the day the case was filed; Penguin and Macmillan settled some months later.
The $400 million will be paid on top of earlier settlements with publishers in the case, which provided $166 million in damages for consumers of e-books.