Have An iPhone? Does Apple Owe You A Piece Of The $250 Million AI Settlement

After winding its way through reviews and preliminary approvals, the legal settlement against Apple over its misleading AI claims during the initial Apple Intelligence launch has reached the point where claimants can sign up to be paid from the $250 million pool via a live website. Apple settled a false advertising lawsuit brought by Clarkson Law Firm in May, agreeing to pay $250 million to customers who bought some iPhone models during a specified period. The lawsuit alleged that Apple misled customers by promising AI features that didn’t ship with the new devices. If you purchased an iPhone 16 or iPhone 15 at launch, you may be entitled to receive a portion of the quarter-billion-dollar settlement. Payouts between $25 and $95 per eligible device are expected.

How to claim your portion of the settlement

As of Sept. 21, you can go to SmartphoneAISettlement.com and enter your information to confirm your eligibility for monetary relief. People whom Apple and the settlement administrator determined would be eligible will also receive email or postal notices from the company Verita directing them to the website. The claims window closes on Dec. 21, 2026, so you have three months to act.

Who is eligible for the $250 million settlement?

If you bought one of the following devices between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025, you could be eligible to receive a settlement payment:

• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16E
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are included because they had the processor and memory to run Apple Intelligence features. It’s estimated that approximately 36 million customers are eligible for this settlement.

Why is there a lawsuit over Apple Intelligence?

When Apple advertised its new iPhone 16 lineup in 2024, it emphasized how the models were optimized for AI features such as an enhanced Siri that could act as an intelligent agent. When the phones did arrive, Apple Intelligence wasn’t yet ready; its first features didn’t arrive until iOS 18.1, five weeks later.

According to the proposed settlement, “Apple allegedly saturated the market with deceptive ads, inducing consumers to purchase iPhones based on the promise of certain enhanced Siri features.”

Some features of Apple Intelligence did ship soon after the introduction of the iPhone 16 and iOS 18, including Visual Intelligence, Live Translation, Writing Tools, Genmoji and Clean Up. But those weren’t the advanced features Apple highlighted. In fact, the type of intelligent interactions Apple advertised is only starting to show up in Siri AI, which is part of iOS 27, which was released in early September.

Source: CNET