Apple to Pay $250 Million to Settle Class Action Over Delayed Siri Features

[turbineseaplane]

This is not a punishment. They make than in a few hours of business. $250 million is almost a rounding error for them.

Exactly my thought.

No wonder these megacorps do whatever they want.

The penalties are so tiny that it's just a tiny cost of doing business for them all.

If penalties aren't severe enough to be deterrents, they may as well not exist.

 

[sw1tcher]

or put it this way, iPhone foldable case is now $10 more expensive. estimate iPhone foldable sells 100 million units, 25% buy an Apple case, they paid $10 more for the case, making up the $250 million.

You think Apple will sell 100 million foldable iPhones? 😂

While Apple no longer reports unit sales, they probably sell around 220 million to 240 million units a year. It's going to take a while for foldable iPhones to make up nearly half of all iPhone sales.

 

[germanbeer007]

You think Apple will sell 100 million foldable iPhones? 😂

While Apple no longer reports unit sales, they probably sell around 220 million to 240 million units a year. It's going to take a while for foldable iPhones to make up nearly half of all iPhone sales.

"a year"

I didn't say a year. too easy. 😂

 

[jz0309]

This is not a punishment. They make than in a few hours of business. $250 million is almost a rounding error for them.

settlements are not a "punishment", and it requires both (sometimes more) parties to agree to said settlement.
The real winners are the lawyers, as usual

 

[germanbeer007]

Exactly my thought.

No wonder these megacorps do whatever they want.

The penalties are so tiny that it's just a tiny cost of doing business for them all.

If penalties aren't severe enough to be deterrents, they may as well not exist.

what's "severe enough"?

$100 billion? you think Tim Cook is just going to take in $100 billion loss and not have a plan to squeeze more money from consumers to make up for it? or rather John Ternus' first act as CEO is to tell investors "oh well, tough luck, pls buy more Apple stock 🥺"?

I'd understand if you don't use/buy any Apple products but if you do, you're just shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[Kar98]

What on earth is being said here? $300 is literally half the price of the 16e.
Are you saying those two delayed AI features are over 50% of the phones value?
Not the hardware, not the display, not the cameras, not iOS, not any of that?

Correct. What does the 16 do noticeably better than its predecessors?

 

[ThailandToo]

What on earth is being said here? $300 is literally half the price of the 16e.
Are you saying those two delayed AI features are over 50% of the phones value?
Not the hardware, not the display, not the cameras, not iOS, not any of that?

And some people paid $2000 for a maxed out iPhone 16 Pro Max. Can base it on the price of the phone but the point is a lot of people bought the phone based on lies!

 

[Macalway]

It's a great win for the lawyers who started this, in hopes to settle, and make tens of millions for themselves, with perhaps a glancing thought to actual iPhone owners (not)

And if you may think that this is unjust or unethical, one of them owns an iPhone!

 

[thelion7]

So a drop in the ocean then?

 

[smeagol]

Class action lawsuits are such a scam. The general public gets a couple dollars and the lawyers buy another exotic car.

 

[Kr0019]

so is telling the world they need to upgrade to the iPhone 16 to use features that never came out.

I think they were referring to class actions in general being a scam where the claimants get little to nothing but lawyers get a massive pay day.

 

[lapstags]

Class actions are a scam.

You people hate unions and class actions suits? Weird demo on this site.

 

[vantelimus]

so is telling the world they need to upgrade to the iPhone 16 to use features that never came out.

There's a difference between what Apple did–failed to execute as they thought they could–and the type of fraudulent claims that landed IBM in a consent decree. IBM knowingly and intentionally froze markets with bogus announcements. Apple just succumbed to modern managerial incompetence. Both Federighi and Joswiak should have been fired. It would be nice to see Ternus step up and clean up that management mess.

 

[CookItOff]

Class actions are a scam.

Class actions and NGOs are basically the same grift. Organization gets 90 percent of the donations and the people in need get pennies. I guess it's just the world we live in now.

 

[now i see it]

A-Inc marketing team made a quarter of a billion dollar boo boo

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

There's a difference between what Apple did–failed to execute as they thought they could–and the type of fraudulent claims that landed IBM in a consent decree. IBM knowingly and intentionally froze markets with bogus announcements. Apple just succumbed to modern managerial incompetence. Both Federighi and Joswiak should have been fired. It would be nice to see Ternus step up and clean up that management mess.

Who said anything about IBM? What a non sequitur...

 

[257Loner]

A simple apology would have sufficed, but I'll take the $250 million anyway.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

How is Apple “behind the market on AI?” Google just released similar features a few weeks ago and I’ve heard roughly nothing about them since.

What "similar features" are you talking about? The person generally referenced "AI"...not any specific features, and there are so many AI companies now with working product and here, Apple's search on my iPhone can't find basic photos. It'd be laughable if it wasn't so sad. Siri, to this day, acts like she doesn't comprehend English.

 

[SantaFeNM]

As a 16 Pro owner, I would have preferred to see it based on 10-15% of the retail price for those who submit a claim.

 

[Premium1]

I didn’t buy my iPhone 16 for ‘future’ features, but I guess I better see if I can get my 50 cents.

Future features? They advertised it as one of the main selling points. Apple deserves this one.

 

[robfoll]

I find it really hard to believe that a single person went out and bought a new phone because of these advertised features. These class actions mean bugger all; they're just a payday for lawyers.

 

[jarman92]

What "similar features" are you talking about?

Features similar to those Apple promised at WWDC 2024 (as opposed to useless features like generating AI slop).

Apple's search on my iPhone can't find basic photos.

Can't relate to this at all, I can't think of a way search in Photos could be better actually—you can search by any combo of date, location, or subject, landmarks, pets/animals...you can even put in like "man in blue shirt" and it works. What more are you looking for?

Siri, to this day, acts like she doesn't comprehend English.

Siri sucks, no doubt about that (though I find it generally understands what I said, it just can't do anything with it).

 

[citysnaps]

And yet almost everyone here vociferously claimed, multiple times, back in early 2025 they'd *immediately* turn off or remove AI as soon as Apple downloaded it on their iPhones, not wanting any part of it.

And now it's Apple isn't paying them enough for the settlement.

 

[dyllisphiller]

My wife knows nothing about tech. She got a 16 Pro and made many comments to me about how the Apple Intelligence stuff does not work at all like it shows in the commercials. She wasn't mad about getting the new phone necessarily, but the over promise and under deliver definitely damaged the brand in her mind. Just an anecdote, but it seemed pretty blatant to me and was not surprised by her reaction.

This is the part that gets me. It’s fine for people to be ignorant about the finer points of tech. People shouldn’t need to be experts to choose and use products that benefit them. The current legal mechanisms in the U.S. to keep vendors honest about their offerings are imperfect, but at least Apple is being held to account for this misrepresentation.

 

[Johnstrass2]

Sorry Apple, but you earned this one.

Really? a 250M fine??? Who actually bought a 16 ONLY because it has apple "AI" supposedly baked in ? I might suggest everyone read a bit of Shakespeare: Act IV, Scene 2 Henry VI Part 2