Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a false advertising class-action lawsuit accusing the company of overhyping its Apple Intelligence features—specifically a promised AI overhaul of Siri that plaintiffs say never materialized and, according to their lawyers, may not arrive for years.
The announcement comes just before Apple is supposedly set to finally unveil some form of AI-enhanced Siri at its developer conference in June, which would mark another swing at detailing a radically improved digital assistant for the iPhone.
The legal complaint says that Apple allegedly saturated the market with deceptive ads, inducing consumers to purchase iPhones based on “the promise of certain Enhanced Siri features” that Apple had first announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in 2024, a few months ahead of the release of the iPhone 16.
The proposed settlement, filed Tuesday in California federal court, is one of the largest Apple has ever reached. It covers only US customers who bought any model of an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. Depending on the claim, those who qualify could possibly receive up to $95 per device.
Court documents state that a $250 million 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 … The Settlement also reflects that Apple anticipates delivering additional Siri Apple Intelligence features in future software updates at no additional cost.”
The documentation goes on to cite that Apple’s advertising also drew the attention of the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division, which found that “Apple’s claim that Apple Intelligence is ‘available now’ conveyed that the updated Siri was available at launch, when it was not.” In March 2025, Apple told consumers that Enhanced Siri features would not be delivered until a future date.
The settlement, which is still awaiting a judge’s approval, includes no admission of fault by the company. Marni Goldberg, an Apple spokesperson, gave a statement to The New York Times, claiming that with “the launch of Apple Intelligence,” Apple has “introduced dozens of features across many languages that are integrated across Apple’s platforms,” but the company has “resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users.”
Apple acknowledged last year that its AI upgrades to Siri were falling behind schedule. In a statement to Daring Fireball in March 2025, Apple spokesperson Jacqueline Roy said the company had “been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps,” but confirmed that it was going to take the company “longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”
The next day, Apple reportedly pulled an advertisement starring Bella Ramsey showing the actor using a version of Siri that is capable of answering the query “What’s the name of the guy I had a meeting with a couple of months ago at Cafe Grenel?”
The is the second time in as many years Apple’s voice assistant has cost the company dearly. In May last year, Apple agreed to pay out $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over claims Siri listened in on private conversations.