Apple recently made quite a massive blunder with the promised Apple Intelligence Siri features. The features, that were one of the main selling points (more or less) of the new iPhone 16 were recently announced to be delayed. Quite understandably, plenty of people who bought the new iPhone excited about the futuristic-sounding digital assistant are now left disappointed.
As a consequence, the Cupertino tech giant is now hit with at least two proposed class action lawsuits over the delayed Siri personalization features for iPhones.
In the U.S., there’s a complaint filed in a California federal court. Filed this week, it alleges Apple had violated laws against false advertising and unfair competition by marketing Apple Intelligence upgrades for Siri, which are, well.. not here.
The two plaintiffs in the complaint say they would have not bought the iPhone 16 or been willing to pay its expensive price if they knew the promised features weren’t going to be a thing when they should have, claiming misleading marketing. Basically, the context-aware and super-smart Siri was advertised in product presentations, on Apple’s website, in a commercial, and in many other places. Last month, Apple got slammed with another, similar class action lawsuit in California over the delayed Siri features. Potentially, the two lawsuits may be merged if they proceed.
Meanwhile, in Canada, another similar complaint was filed against Apple in the province of British Columbia.
The promised personalized Siri features are still missing
Thumbnail from Apple’s now removed ‘more personal Siri’ ad. | Image credit — Apple
The personalized Siri features first appeared during Apple’s WWDC keynote back in June of 2024. They were previewed as a part of a plethora of other Apple Intelligence features. Apple, at the time, said the features would start rolling out in the following year.
Basically, that more or less meant Apple had until WWDC 2025 to roll out the Siri features. Well, as we all know, that won’t happen as Apple recently announced it needed more time for this extra futuristic context-aware Siri. Apple is now saying the features will be rolled out at some point “in the coming year”.
Initially, all expected Siri 2.0 to come with iOS 18.4, but this update just launched last week, and we already knew the fancy Siri wasn’t going to be a part of it. Now, the expectation is for the new generative AI-powered assistant to come with some version of iOS 19. Many sources say the features may not be available until 2026.
So yep, it was too good to be true, at least for now. The new Siri was advertised to sport a variety of, to put it simply, futuristic features thanks to generative AI. Such include understanding the user’s personal context, on-screen awareness, and deep controls within apps.
During WWDC 2024, Apple previewed a user asking Siri about her mother’s flight and lunch reservation plans, and the context-aware Siri was able to answer based on info from Mail and Messages.
Class action lawsuits seeking damages
The two class action lawsuits – the one in the U.S. and the one in Canada – are both seeking damages from Apple. The amount of the damages will be determined at trial. Eventually, if Apple is found to be violating the law against false advertising, the class members who purchased an iPhone 16 for the personalized Siri features could receive a payout from the company.
The resolution may not arrive quickly though, as usual when it comes to lawsuits and big tech corporations. It may take some time, and appeals may also be made, so it’s quite early to say what the results of these lawsuits would be.
But at the end of the day, many iPhone 16 users are just hoping to see the features they were excited about finally arrive. I also found the context-aware Siri very impressive and exciting when it was previewed. Whether or not the lawsuits move forward, it’s clear once again that setting the right expectations matters, especially when it comes to big promises and… well, expensive devices.
