As per the reports, Apple has consented to a payment amounting to US $250 million as a settlement for a lawsuit that is filed by some people against the tech company for misleading their customers about the upcoming Siri and Apple Intelligence features with regards to recently launched iPhones.
The case is based on the fact that the company has led people into thinking that they will roll out these features very soon after launching. Consumers were encouraged to purchase costly devices on the assumption that their upgrades were around the corner.
The lawsuit covers these devices:
This complaint revolves around Apple’s claim of making Siri more personalized via Apple Intelligence. In the WWDC 2024, Apple unveiled several capabilities, such as personal context, cross-app interaction, and natural conversations. Later, these features were incorporated into the marketing campaign for the iPhone 16 series.
As per the documents filed by Apple, the plaintiffs bought their products for the premium price expecting that these upgrades will come within a reasonable period of time. According to plaintiffs’ allegations, Apple’s marketing campaigns suggested that these upgrades are just around the corner, while the AI technologies have not been ready yet for the mass audience.
Apple claims that they never misled their customers and adhered to all necessary regulations in this regard. However, Apple opted to settle the case rather than going through lengthy court procedures.
Apple will deposit $250 million into a settlement fund, which will be used for paying the customers, legal expenses, and other costs associated with the lawsuit.
The estimate of potential claims includes about 36 million devices sold in the United States. The settlement applies to devices purchased between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025. However, the actual number of eligible claims will be revealed after reviewing the documents during the process of court approval.
In its initial appearance, the compensation amount seems insignificant. If all eligible devices get equal payments, each device will receive less than $7. Yet, based on the information about the terms of the settlement, most users might get more than this amount.
According to PCMag, eligible users might receive approximately $25 per device. Payments will be increased to up to $95 per device, provided that fewer users make their claims.
Also, people will be allowed to claim money for more than one device based on valid proof of purchases. This will work well for families or individuals who bought many phones within that specific period.
However, customers will not get paid immediately because there is still need for court approval of the deal. Once the process is approved, the administrator will then open up the online portal to make it easy for customers to make their claims in the United States.
It should be noted that this is not the first lawsuit Apple has had concerning Siri. The new case came after the previous one worth US$95 million was brought against Apple because of issues concerning Siri privacy violation.
The case comes as part of growing pressures on tech firms to be careful about integrating AI into their products due to their critical nature. In the last two years, many tech companies have been quick to market generative AI as the next big product update for phones and computers.
Apple joined the competition relatively late, yet, during WWDC 2024, the company chose to make artificial intelligence one of the main topics for discussion and introduced the idea of Apple Intelligence, which was going to become a hallmark for future iPhone models. Also, Apple described the series of iPhone 16 as devices that are ready to provide customers with a unique AI experience.
The case indicates possible risks to the launch of incomplete products. People purchase expensive gadgets mainly because of the promise of unique software capabilities. When companies present such features as the core of their products, users expect that these features will function.
In this case, financial losses caused by the agreement are relatively small and cannot affect the company negatively significantly. However, for Apple, it may be more about the loss of reputation since the company always tried to sell complete products with unique and reliable functions.
The agreement cannot be considered a statement of guilt on the part of Apple; however, the case demonstrates the attention paid to similar issues in the industry today.
