Users having problems with their iPhone 5 sleep button are finally getting Apple to admit to the problem. The company announced that it recognizes that the issue is still causing problems on models put to market before March 2013, and have offered owners the option of having the company fix their sleep button at no extra cost.

Still, many are questioning why it had taken the company so long to listen to iPhone users who have long cried foul over the sleep button issue, which on older iPhone's becomes stuck and then eventually does not work at all.

Many users have complained directly to Apple on the company's support forum since the iPhone 5 was launched in 2012. Now, at least, the company is listening and is going to replace the faulty button free of charge and even if your phone is not on warranty.

"Apple has determined that the sleep/wake button mechanism on a small percentage of iPhone 5 models may stop working or work intermittently," reads a statement on Apple's replacement program webpage.

"Apple will replace the sleep/wake button mechanism, free of charge, on iPhone 5 models that exhibit this issue and have a qualifying serial number."

The issue, which was for months left unresolved, has many industry experts as well as consumers, questioning Apple's intention over why they would not see the problem and address it immediately. Some online observers have urged the company to apologize for its failure to act with speed to ensure all iPhone 5 users were having the best quality smartphone they could.

"Apple will replace the sleep/wake button mechanism, free of charge, on iPhone 5 models that exhibit this issue and have a qualifying serial number," said the Cupertino, California-based company.

It comes on the heels of a legal settlement with thousands of tech workers who had called out the company over alleged no-hire agreements with other top tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Google.

This new announcement that the company would fix iPhone's that experience the sleep button problem has been seen as a way of countering media discussion over its involvement in the alleged illegal activity in the state over hiring and salaries.

Apple also said that if a consumer had paid to have the sleep button replaced, they are willing to reimburse the money for the faulty button, as the new move allows customers to replace the button without cost to themselves.