Apple Now Has a $250M Tab It Owes Consumers

Apple's big AI pitch for the iPhone has landed it with a $250 million tab. The company has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that accused it of overstating how ready its Apple Intelligence tools—like a beefed-up Siri—would be on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro, reports the Verge. The proposed deal covers US buyers of those models between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025. Eligible owners can file for $25 per device, a figure that could rise to as much as $95, depending on how many people claim, according to Clarkson Law Firm.

Filed in 2025, the suit said Apple's marketing created a "clear and reasonable consumer expectation" that new AI features would be there at launch, but instead users got a stripped-down or missing version. The company "promoted AI capabilities that did not exist at the time, do not exist now, and will not exist for two or more years," the complaint notes, per 9to5Mac. A survey cited in the lawsuit noted that the most anticipated feature for possible iPhone purchasers was "enhanced Siri," reports the Guardian.

Apple has been slowly rolling out tools such as Image Playground, Genmoji, and a ChatGPT tie-in for Siri, while its more advanced, personalized Siri is still pending, per the Verge. Advertising watchdogs had already urged Apple to tweak its "available now" claims, and the company pulled at least one AI-focused ad, which featured The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey. Apple denies wrongdoing, saying it settled to keep its attention on building "the most innovative products and services." The Guardian notes that about 36 million devices would be covered under the settlement.