Apple to pay up to 250 mn USD to some iPhone buyers

Apple has agreed to pay some iPhone buyers a collective $250m (£184m) to end a lawsuit accusing the company of misleading people about new artificial intelligence (AI) features and capabilities.

In a settlement filed Tuesday in California federal court, Apple did not admit any wrongdoing, but agreed to a deal that will resolve claims in a large consolidated class action lawsuit filed last year.

It accused Apple of false advertising around its AI features on the iPhone, which the company called Apple Intelligence, including an enhancement of its Siri voice assistant.

Apple will pay between $25 and $95 to people in the US who bought an iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 between June 2024 and March 2025.

An Apple spokeswoman said the lawsuit was focused on "the availability of two additional features" in a lineup of many released as part of its Apple Intelligence rollout.

"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.

In a revised complaint filed last week for the consolidated class of iPhone buyers, lawyers said that Apple's marketing around new AI features amounted to false advertising.

"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 wrote.

They added that Apple undertook this campaign around AI specifically in an effort to catch up in a Big Tech race for new technology being driven by new companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Outgoing chief executive Tim Cook has been criticised over the years for not being innovative enough with Apple's products.

But its marketing of Apple Intelligence as being able to deliver to iPhone customers a new, better version of Siri that would transform it from a "limited voice interface into a full-fledged personal AI assistant" was allegedly false.

"The iPhone 16 was delivered to consumers without "Apple Intelligence," and Enhanced Siri never came," the lawyers wrote.

-BBC