Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a US class‑action suit accusing the company of misleading iPhone buyers about Siri’s AI upgrade. The lawsuit claims Apple promoted a personalized Siri alongside its Apple Intelligence branding at WWDC 2024, promising a launch in 2024 that never materialized. The deal covers purchases made between September 2023 and March 2025, offering refunds or credit vouchers to owners of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro series.

Apple gradually released fragments of the promised features—text editing, image generation and a ChatGPT‑style assistant—through 2024 and 2025, but never delivered a Siri that could understand on‑device context or act within apps. The company only acknowledged the delay in March 2025, five months after the iPhone 16 shipped, and promptly withdrew its pre‑launch ads from Apple’s marketing team. Apple also promised deeper integration with third‑party apps, a claim that remains unfulfilled as of the latest iOS beta.

The settlement, pending judicial approval, will compensate anyone who bought a qualifying iPhone expecting the new Siri, though Apple does not admit fault. A forthcoming partnership with Google allows Apple to tap Gemini models, aiming to embed the upgraded assistant in iOS 27 later this year. While the payout eases immediate consumer frustration, it also signals growing scrutiny over AI marketing claims across the tech sector.