- Apple has been hit by lawsuits in the US and Canada as disgruntled users accuse the iPhone maker of delaying Siri features on the iPhone gadget.
A complaint filed in the US in a California federal court accuses Apple of false advertising as well as unfair competition laws by marketing Apple Intelligence updates for Siri that are not yet available.
Apple’s advertising of new Siri features was misleading
The tech giant advertised a revamped Siri, with new features in product presentations on its website. Apple featured actor Bella Ramsey in a TV commercial marketing the new features, much to the disappointment of users as the upgrades have not been released yet.
According to Macrumors, the two named plaintiffs in the California case revealed they were motivated by the advertised features to buy the iPhone. They added that if they had known that the tech giant’s advertising about the features was false, they would have never bought or been willing to pay as much for an iPhone 16.
Prior this lawsuit, Apple had already been sued over the delayed Siri features in California and the class action lawsuits could eventually be merged if they proceed.
According to Macrumors, a similar complaint was last week filed against the iPhone maker in the Canadian province of the British Columbia.
Apple initially previewed the personalized Siri features in June last year at its WWDC 2024 keynote. This was part of an array of Apple Intelligence features the tech firm indicated would be rolling out over the course of the following year.
This gave the Apple until WWDC 2025 this June to release the Siri features. However, the company last month announced that it needed more time and anticipated to release the new features at some point “in the coming year.”
The new Siri features might take until 2026 to hit the market
Apple initially intended to roll out the features in iOS 18.4 last week, but they are now expected to arrive at some point during the iOS 19 cycle. Now, many well-connected Apple reporters and observers are of the view that the features will not be available until 2026.
Apple has come under fire before over its Apple Intelligence. Earlier this year, the tech giant was criticised over the Apple Intelligence for making wrong news summary notifications, much to the disappointment of media publishing houses as their news articles were misinterpreted. This forced Apple to pause the program until it could fix it.
Recently, the firm was also slapped with a $162 million fine by French antitrust authorities for using a privacy feature to prevent competition from accessing its users. The authorities indicated that Apple was relying on its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) which ensures users have consent before applications can track their activities and movements.
Now, the launch of the Siri upgrades, whenever they eventually do so, the upgrades will include an understanding of a users’ personal context, onscreen awareness, and deeper per-app controls.
For instance, during its WWDC 2024 keynote, Apple revealed that an iPhone user will be asking Siri about their mothers’ flight and lunch reservation plans based on the info from the Mail and Messages apps.
According to Macrumors, the class action lawsuits in both the US and Canada are seeking damages from Apple in an amount to be proven at trial. This follows therefore that the class members who acquired the iPhone 16 in order to use the personalized Siri features could eventually receive a payout from Apple, if the judges presiding over each case find it that Apple broke the law.
Apple’s lawyers haven’t responded to any of the lawsuits.
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