Apple reached a $250 million settlement on Tuesday with consumers after a dispute over its AI capabilities, with some iPhone owners eligible for up to $95 in compensation.
In the settlement, Apple denied wrongdoing but agreed to compensate customers who purchased iPhone 16 and some iPhone 15 phones between June 2024 and March 2025.
Last year, customers filed several class-action lawsuits against the tech giant, alleging the company misled them about the capabilities of its AI platform. These lawsuits were consolidated into a single case by a California federal court last year.
The dispute between the parties dates back to 2024, when Apple announced its personal intelligence system, Apple Intelligence. At the time, Apple released advertisements showcasing the system’s supposed abilities, including an improved version of its voice assistant Siri.
However, Apple Intelligence features weren’t available on new iPhone models shipped in September 2024 and were instead rolled out gradually afterward. Even then, plaintiffs say AI summaries and other features promised to consumers were often inaccurate and unreliable.
"Apple promoted AI capabilities that did not exist at the time, do not exist now, and will not exist for two or more years, if ever, all while marketing them as the breakthrough innovation," lawyers in one of the lawsuits wrote, accusing the company of trying to match other tech companies’ AI achievements without actually creating a capable product.
'Enhanced Siri never came'
"The iPhone 16 was delivered to consumers without "Apple Intelligence," and Enhanced Siri never came," the lawyers wrote.
Throughout the lawsuits, Apple denied wrongdoing, and a company spokesperson was quoted by the BBC as saying that the lawsuit focused on "the availability of two additional features," among other aspects of Apple Intelligence.
"We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users", she said.