Apple to Pay $250 Million Over Delayed Siri AI Features in iPhone 16 Series Settlement

Apple launched the series of iPhone 16 phones in September 2024, and during its promotions, nothing received more attention than Apple Intelligence. In its demonstrations during product launches and ads campaigns, the company highlighted the improvements it had made on Siri that would revolutionize the user experience for iPhone users. The company explained that the updated version of Siri was smarter and would understand natural conversations much better and perform actions across different applications easily.

For most users, the enhanced AI features offered by the updated version of Siri were some of the top reasons to purchase new iPhone models. The company's marketing campaign projected that these AI features would soon become an integral part of everyday iPhone use. But almost two years later, some of the most talked about features of Siri have yet to be included.

Recently, Apple has agreed to pay USD 250 million (around Rs 2,379 crore) as compensation to settle a lawsuit filed against it in the United States on claims that it misled customers with its Apple Intelligence advertising campaign. Despite agreeing to settle out of court, Apple hasn't admitted any liability or wrongdoings.

Why Apple Is Facing This Lawsuit

In the lawsuit, the company’s marketing regarding the AI technology called “Apple Intelligence” and upgraded Siri assistant introduced at WWDC 2024 was under fire, as well as the intensive advertising campaign for the new iPhone model. Apple showcased an AI-enabled Siri that could comprehend personal context, hold more natural conversations, and intelligently move between different applications to perform actions.

As a result of such demonstration, people formed the expectation that these capabilities will become available soon after purchasing a device capable of implementing these technologies. As the lawsuit claims, many customers have purchased newer models of iPhones, hoping that the enhanced Siri experience will be available soon.

Nevertheless, despite the aggressive promotion of this product, some of its most innovative functionalities have not yet been deployed. The lawsuit claims that Apple’s marketing campaign tricked customers into believing that this product is already available or will be available very shortly after the introduction.

The lawsuit is applicable to purchases made between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025.

The “Smarter Siri” That Still Hasn’t Fully Arrived

Apple’s pledge to revolutionize Siri assistant formed the focal point of the dispute. Apple demonstrated the capability of Siri to comprehend personal information, recall context throughout conversations, and interact in a more natural manner with applications.

Siri appeared far more capable compared to its previous versions through the demonstrations. Apple indicated that Siri had the ability to understand the user’s actions on the screen, obtain contextual information, and perform complicated tasks through applications without issuing precise instructions. However, time revealed the absence of most of these highlighted capabilities.

To Apple’s credit, several Apple Intelligence features did eventually arrive on supported devices. These included:

• Writing Tools

• Genmoji

• AI image generation

• Clean Up for photos

• Visual Intelligence

• ChatGPT integration

• Live Translation

These features gradually rolled out across compatible iPhones, iPads, and Macs. However, the upgraded Siri experience remained the most visible missing feature in Apple’s AI strategy.

The delays eventually became difficult to ignore, forcing Apple to postpone some capabilities and reportedly remove advertisements that had been promoting the missing Siri features for months.

Apple’s Official Response

In a statement shared with multiple media outlets, Apple defended the broader Apple Intelligence rollout while confirming the settlement agreement.

The company stated:

“Since the launch of Apple Intelligence, we have introduced dozens of features across many languages that are integrated across Apple’s platforms, relevant to what users do every day, and built with privacy protections at every step.”

In addition, Apple pointed out other features such as Visual Intelligence, Live Translation, Writing Tools, Genmoji, and Clean Up as some of the features already provided to users.

Furthermore, the company stated that it chose to settle the case so that it could focus on providing new products and services and not engage in prolonged legal battles. It is worth noting that Apple did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in settling the case.

Apple’s AI Rollout Started Looking Slower Than Rivals

Issues regarding Siri delays were more prominent due to the aggressive entry of smartphones into the world of artificial intelligence within the same time period.

Samsung introduced Galaxy AI across its high-end Galaxy devices and added features like real-time translations, AI editors, summarization, and productivity.

On the other hand, Google launched its Gemini AI deep into the Pixel environment and its associated Android apps and search functions.

As compared to other companies, Apple appeared slower and less coordinated in terms of integration of new technologies. While Apple stressed on privacy-based AI experiences, there was an underlying feeling that the company had not delivered on its promises made during initial launches regarding Siri upgrades.

This was the primary reason for the lawsuit against Apple.

Which Devices Are Eligible for Compensation?

The settlement applies only to customers in the United States. Users in India and other international markets are not eligible for compensation under this agreement.

The settlement reportedly covers around 37 million eligible Apple devices sold during the qualifying period.

Eligible devices include:

• iPhone 15 Pro

• iPhone 15 Pro Max

• iPhone 16

• iPhone 16e

• iPhone 16 Plus

• iPhone 16 Pro

• iPhone 16 Pro Max

For an eligible product, it should be bought within the period from June 10, 2024, through March 29, 2025.

An eligible customer can get a refund anywhere between USD 25 (which is equivalent to Rs 2,400) to USD 95 (approximately Rs 9,000) for each item. The amount of money will vary based on the number of claims made by the users.

How Eligible Users Can File Claims

US Apple consumers who are eligible for the settlement are expected to receive notifications via email or regular mail following the completion of the preliminary approval process.

These notifications will be accompanied by guidance on filing claims via an authorized settlement website. According to sources, these notifications are anticipated to commence 45 days after the preliminary approval process.

Those who acquired eligible iPhones within the specified period should pay close attention to their respective email accounts for more information.

What This Means for Apple’s AI Future

This particular event sheds light on how much pressure technology firms are under when promoting artificial intelligence technology that is still not completely ready to be introduced to users.

There seems to be an ongoing struggle among companies in the smartphone market related to the race to present innovative AI-powered features to consumers first. However, as the case of Apple suggests, there can be consequences for advertising AI features that take a long time to be implemented into devices.

Despite all the fuss, the firm will continue to develop Apple Intelligence and Siri further. Additional innovations in artificial intelligence will certainly be presented through future updates of iOS and hardware releases.

Nevertheless, this particular lawsuit emphasizes how consumers today demand more transparency and reliability from companies that claim to have developed AI technology that they advertise through marketing campaigns.