Apple agrees to pay $250 million settlement over delayed Siri AI features on iPhone 15 and 16

41 Sources

Share

Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the company misled customers about Apple Intelligence capabilities. The lawsuit claims Apple's marketing created expectations that advanced Siri AI features would be available at launch, but those features remain delayed. Eligible iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 owners could receive up to $95 per device.

Apple Settlement Addresses Claims of Misleading AI Marketing

Apple has agreed to pay a $250 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of overstating the capabilities and availability of its Apple Intelligence features, particularly an upgraded Siri that has yet to fully materialize

1

. The Apple lawsuit, filed in California federal court, alleged that the company saturated the market with misleading advertisements that induced consumers to purchase iPhone 15 and 16 models based on promises of enhanced AI tools that were incomplete or delayed

2

. This marks one of the largest settlements Apple has ever reached, coming just days before the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 8, where Apple is expected to preview its AI-enhanced Siri

1

.

Source: ET

Source: ET

How Delayed AI Features Sparked Legal Action

The complaint centers on Apple's marketing campaign ahead of the iPhone 16 launch, which emphasized how the devices were optimized for generative AI capabilities

3

. Plaintiffs alleged that Apple created a "clear and reasonable consumer expectation" that Apple Intelligence features would be available immediately, when in reality the products "offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence"

4

. The company first announced these features at its Worldwide Developers Conference in 2024, months before the iPhone 16 release, but when the phones arrived, Apple Intelligence wasn't ready—its first features didn't arrive until iOS 18.1 five weeks later

3

.

Source: USA Today

Source: USA Today

The National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau found that Apple's claim that Apple Intelligence is "available now" conveyed that the upgraded Siri was available at launch, when it was not

2

. In March 2025, Apple acknowledged that Enhanced Siri features would not be delivered until a future date, with spokesperson Jacqueline Roy confirming it was taking "longer than we thought to deliver on these features"

2

. The company even pulled an advertisement starring Bella Ramsey that showed the actor using a version of Siri AI capable of answering complex contextual queries

2

.

Consumer Compensation and Eligibility Details

Under the proposed $250 million settlement, eligible U.S. customers who purchased the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025 could receive consumer compensation ranging from $25 to $95 per device

1

. The iPhone 15 Pro models are included because they had the processor and memory to run Apple Intelligence features

3

. Approximately 36 million customers are estimated to be eligible for payouts

3

.

Court documents state that a common fund will provide successful claimants with "a presumptive per-device payment of $25 for each eligible device, which may decrease or increase up to $95 per device depending on claim"

2

. The settlement administrator Verita will send email and postal notices to eligible customers directing them to a settlement website, with a 90-day deadline for filing claims after notices arrive

3

. Judicial approval is scheduled for June 17, 2026, with actual payouts expected sometime after September 2026

3

.

Apple's Response and Ongoing AI Struggles

Apple did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement

1

. In a statement, Apple spokesperson Marni Goldberg emphasized that with "the launch of Apple Intelligence," Apple has "introduced dozens of features across many languages," including Visual Intelligence, Live Translation, Writing Tools, Genmoji, and Clean Up

2

. The company said it "resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users"

5

.

Source: Lifehacker

Source: Lifehacker

However, the settlement reflects broader challenges Apple faces in incorporating product innovation around generative AI compared to Android rivals

5

. The anticipated Siri updates are expected to help the assistant function more like modern AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Claude . While earlier reports suggested the upgraded experience would be powered by Google Gemini, newer reports indicate the company's next iPhone operating system may let users choose from multiple third-party large language models

1

. Apple announced in January it would use Google Gemini AI models and cloud technology to power the upgrade, with Google affirming the features would arrive before the end of 2026

5

.

What This Means for Apple's AI Strategy

This shareholder lawsuit settlement highlights the risks companies face when marketing claims outpace actual product delivery, particularly in the fast-moving AI landscape. This is the second time in two years that Siri has cost Apple significantly—in May last year, the company paid $95 million to settle claims that Siri listened in on private conversations

2

. The timing of this settlement, arriving just before WWDC where Apple is expected to showcase AI capabilities, puts additional pressure on the company to deliver concrete results rather than promises. Industry observers will be watching closely to see whether Apple can finally bridge the gap between its marketing claims and actual feature availability, particularly as competition intensifies in the AI assistant space.

Today's Top Stories

TheOutpost.ai

Don’t drown in AI news. We cut through the noise - filtering, ranking and summarizing the most important AI news, breakthroughs and research daily. Spend less time searching for the latest in AI and get straight to action.

Instagram logo
LinkedIn logo
Youtube logo
© 2026 TheOutpost.AI All rights reserved