Apple has agreed to pay a total of $250 million (£184 million) to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of misleading iPhone buyers about new artificial intelligence features and capabilities.
The settlement, filed on Tuesday in a California federal court, does not include any admission of wrongdoing by Apple, but would resolve claims brought in a large consolidated class action lawsuit filed last year.
The lawsuit accused Apple of falsely advertising AI features for the iPhone under its Apple Intelligence branding, including upgrades to its Siri voice assistant.
Under the proposed settlement, Apple will pay between $25 and $95 to eligible customers who bought an iPhone 15 or 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 on behalf of the consolidated class of iPhone buyers, lawyers argued that Apple’s marketing of its 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.
The lawyers also claimed that Apple launched the AI marketing campaign as part of an effort to catch up in a wider Big Tech race led by newer companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
Outgoing chief executive Tim Cook has faced criticism over the years that Apple’s products have not been innovative enough under his leadership.
However, lawyers alleged that Apple’s promotion of Apple Intelligence as a way to give iPhone users a new and improved version of Siri, transforming it from a “limited voice interface into a full-fledged personal AI assistant”, was false.
“The iPhone 16 was delivered to consumers without ‘Apple Intelligence,’ and Enhanced Siri never came,” the lawyers wrote.
