The Apple Intelligence Settlement — 37 Million Devices and a Feature That Was a Commercial

The Motion I Printed

On May 4, 2026, plaintiffs in the Northern District of California asked for preliminary approval of a $250 million non-reversionary cash settlement. The case is the Landsheft matter — Peter Landsheft, 5:25-cv-02668-NW, a 2025 caption, Clarkson Law Firm in the rooms that walk it — alleging Apple violated consumer-protection laws when it advertised a new generation of iPhones as a breakthrough in AI, including significant enhancements to Siri.

The motion's own footnote, if you can stand a footnote, defines Eligible Devices: iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max. Purchase window: June 10, 2024, to March 29, 2025. Class size: approximately 37 million. Coverage later wandered toward 36 million in some rooms. I am leaving both and keeping 37 as the motion's noun.

The allegation, in the motion's voice: Apple showcased fully operable Enhanced Siri features in its marketing campaign even though the feature did not yet exist. Saturated the market. Induced purchases on the promise. Public reaction, the motion said, was swift when consumers learned the features would arrive later than anticipated.

I printed the introduction. I put it on the sideboard. Willa asked if it was a bill. I said it was a fund. She said a fund that is proposed is a story. I said a story that is a motion is a fact. She wiped around the play button. The play button did not move.

What $250 Million Is, If You Have Only Met a Phone

Non-reversionary means leftover money, after fees and administration, does not go home to Apple. It stays with the class. Coverage put a presumptive $25 per eligible device, with a ceiling near $95 if claims stay thin. I will not promise Dot $95. I will tell her the motion exists, that a judge still has to approve, that a hearing date has moved — a July 8, 2026, sitting for preliminary approval, then coverage on September 2, 2026, putting final approval on February 24, 2027, after Judge Noël Wise pulled it seven months earlier than a September 29, 2027, mark. Payments, in those rooms, sixty days after final approval if nobody appeals. Spring 2027 is a weather, not a wire this afternoon.

Apple does not admit the ads were false. Plaintiffs do not get a trial. Neither admits nor denies is how a company sleeps and a class gets a check that may be twenty-five dollars. Twenty-five dollars is not a mind. Twenty-five dollars is a fund doing arithmetic.

Dot asked, when I explained the $25, whether that was the premium she paid. I said I did not know her premium. She said the premium was the reason she upgraded. I said the motion estimates damages in a neighborhood the papers have put above $2 billion if you believe a certain expert weather. I said I would not adopt the expert as a 10-Q. She said then what is the twenty-five. I said the twenty-five is a settlement. She said a settlement is not a mind. I said that is the chapter.

The Window

June 10, 2024. WWDC's weather, Apple Intelligence as a suite, Enhanced Siri as a star. March 29, 2025. A closing date the class chose because that is when the story of delay had become a story a complaint could hold. Between those dates, in the United States, about 37 million of the listed phones. Europe, in a later room, waited longer for even the first Apple Intelligence cut — iOS 18.4 in April 2025 in the retellings — and is waiting still for the Siri that WWDC 2026 renamed. Chapter 4 holds the wait. This chapter holds the window.

I sat with Reuben while he highlighted did not yet exist. He said exist is a priestly word. I said exist is a shipping word. He said then the commercial shipped first. I said that is the allegation. He wrote allegation and underlined it. I stole the underline.

The Dinner Where Vance Said Everyone Knew

Vance said "everyone knew Siri was late." I asked whether everyone included the person who paid a premium in July. He said the keynote was "aspirational." I said aspirational is a slide. He said I was being cute. I said cute is a cart. He took the cart. I walked.

Dot did not know. Dot knew a commercial. Commercials are how a window gets sold. Windows are how a class gets a date.

What I Will Not Do With 37 Million

I will not tell you to file a claim. I will not tell you the $250 million is a verdict. I will tell you the motion is public, the devices are listed, the window is dated, the allegation is that a feature was shown before it existed, and that Dot's phone is in the window if her receipt is. Receipts are kitchens. Keynotes are theaters. This book is the rope between them.

Eligible Is a List, Not a Feeling

iPhone 16, 16e, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max. I am typing the list because a feeling will try to add a 15 non-Pro or a 14. The motion did not add them. Windows have edges. Edges are how a class stays a class. Dot's receipt, if it is in the window, is an edge. Edges are kitchens.

Wes asked if a cracked 16 was still eligible. I said eligibility is a purchase date and a model, not a crack. He said then the case Lark sold was not the point. I said the case was never the point. He replaced a glass. The glass was honest. Honesty is a crack you can see.

Neither Admits nor Denies, Spoken Aloud

I read the costume to Willa. She said then nobody lied. I said nobody admitted. She said that is a different sentence. I said that is the only sentence a fund can sleep in. She said sleep is a luxury. I said luxury is a keynote. She wiped the paused face. The face did not admit.

The Premium I Will Not Invent

I do not know what Dot paid above a phone that did not have a commercial. Experts in the coverage weather have put a damages theory above $2 billion. I will not adopt it. I will say a premium can be a feeling and a feeling can still be a class if a judge says so. Judges have not finally said so. February 24, 2027, is a calendar, not a verdict. Calendars move. I labeled the move in the first room. I am labeling it again because memory is a users paragraph.

Greta's Window

Greta works a window that still takes a number. Not a genius bar. A records window. I took a number because I am superstitious about which PACER logins remember me, and because a printed caption is a thing I still want in a hand. She asked what I needed. I said a civil docket I already had. She said then why are you here. I said I wanted the paper to have a stamp. She stamped. The stamp was crooked. Crooked is honest.

The caption had Landsheft. The caption had Apple. The caption had a Northern District. I did not ask her to explain a non-reversionary fund. She does not explain funds. She explains hours. Hours are 8:30 to 4:00 and a lunch that is a sandwich. I said thank you. She said next.

Outside I sat on a bench that had a plaque. The plaque was a dead person who had liked parks. I read the motion's footnote again: 16, 16e, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max. I did not add a 14. Adding a 14 is how a class becomes a feeling. Feelings are Quill's vest. Lists are Greta's stamp.

Bea and the Packet That Is Not a Check

Bea volunteers at a senior center that still has a copier. I met her because Kaye asked me to "explain the phone money" to a room that did not want a consultant. I said I consult. The room did not laugh. Bea had a packet a granddaughter had printed. The packet said proposed. I said proposed is not a wire. She said then why is it a packet. I said packets are how a motion becomes a kitchen. She said kitchens want numbers. I said the coverage weather has put $25 as a presumptive and $95 as a ceiling if claims stay thin. I said I would not promise $95. She said then what is the twenty-five. I said twenty-five is a settlement doing arithmetic. She said arithmetic is a copier. The copier jammed. Jams are honest.

A man in the second row asked if he should "opt out and sue." I said I am not useful. Bea said useful is a lawyer. I said useful is Reuben if the paper is a tax. She said this paper is a phone. I left by a door that had a closer that slammed. Slamming is a clock.

What Clarkson Is, If You Have Only Met a Commercial

Clarkson Law Firm is a name on a caption. Peter Landsheft is a name on a 2025 caption. I am not going to tour a plaintiff's biography. I am going to say a class needs a person who will put a name on a page, and that the page is how 37 million devices become a fund a judge still has to bless. Bless is a church word. Approve is the court's. I will use approve.

Judge Noël Wise is the name the 2026 walks put on the calendar. July 8, 2026, was the sitting that granted preliminary approval. September 29, 2027, was a mark that got pulled earlier. February 24, 2027, is the hearing the early-September coverage named. I am stacking the dates so a reader who heard "Apple settled" in a grocery line can see the stack. Settled is a costume if the approval is still a hearing. Hearings are Greta's hours. Grocery lines are Bea's packet.

Dot's receipt, if it is dated inside June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025, and if the model is on the footnote's list, is an edge. Edges are how she might get a notice. Notices are Mina's thrown-away mail. I want that chain to be dull. Dull is how you stop a podcast from turning a motion into a jackpot.

The Sixty Days I Will Not Turn Into a Calendar App

Coverage that walked the deal said payments, if nobody appeals, sixty days after final approval. Spring 2027 is a weather. I will not put a wire on a Tuesday I have not seen. I will say non-reversionary means leftover money, after fees and administration, does not go home to Apple. It stays with the class. Staying is the only theology I like in a fund.

Hugo asked if leftover was "like a tip jar." I said leftover is a legal sentence. He said then it is not a jar. I said Kaye's jar is a jar. He said jars are honest. I said funds are captions. He bound a wedding menu. Menus are claims if a reasonable person takes a price as a price. His menu had a price. I respected the price.

What Saturated Means if You Have Only Met a Billboard

The motion said Apple saturated the market and induced purchases on the promise, and that public reaction was swift when consumers learned the features would arrive later than anticipated. Saturated is a word that means the commercial was not a whisper. Whispers do not get 37 million listed phones. I am not going to reconstruct a media buy. I am going to say a window with edges is how a saturation becomes a class instead of a mood.

Stella said the overflow had "sold out the feeling." I said feelings are not eligible devices. She said then the hotel should rent feelings. I said hotels rent walls. She said walls leaked. I said leakage is a claim if you sell a quiet room. She said I was exhausting. I said exhaustion is a motion. She gave a family a map. Maps are lists. I liked her more for the map than for the bell.

Europe's First Cut Is Not This Window

iOS 18.4 in April 2025, in the retellings, was when a first Apple Intelligence cut reached a Europe that had waited longer. That wait is not Landsheft's purchase window. Landsheft's window is June 10, 2024, to March 29, 2025, United States, listed models. I am separating the rooms so a sequel cannot eat a caption. Sequels eat Pearl's calendar. Captions eat Greta's stamp.

Ivo reads a paper that is not mine in a café that still has a saucer. He asked if "the American settlement" included his cousin's phone in Lisbon. I said I would not tell him yes. He said then the commercial was global and the fund is a district. I said that is the first useful sentence I have heard in a café. He paid for his own coffee. I paid for mine. Paying separately is a jurisdiction.

5:25-cv-02668-NW

I am putting the number in the chapter because a nickname is how a fund becomes a vibe. Northern District of California. Consolidated. Judge initials NW in the caption the walks put on Noël Wise. Document 94, filed July 17, 2026, granted preliminary approval after a July 8 hearing. May 4 was the asking. July 8 was the sitting. July 17 was the paper. February 24, 2027, is still the final if the calendar holds. I am stacking four dates so a grocery line cannot say settled and mean paid.

Soren keeps newspapers the way Ivy keeps bands. I asked him for the July weather. He pulled a local that had used settled in a headline and preliminary in a paragraph a person would not finish. I said that is the climate. He said climates are why he keeps paper. Paper is a spine Hugo already sold me. I paid Soren nothing because the room was a library. Libraries are jurisdictions that do not take a minibar claim.

The Subclass the Court Did Not Want

On May 19, 2026, named plaintiffs Michael Accardi, Brian Beach, Sam Leone, Amanda Marrocco, and Adam Ragsdale — Objecting Plaintiffs in the order's mouth, Pomerantz LLP on the paper — opposed preliminary approval. Their criticism, as the court wrote it: the settlement does not appropriately distinguish between the vastly differing values of the claims of different class members; consider subclasses. The court disagreed. The underlying value of the Enhanced Siri features, the order said, is the same across all Eligible Devices. They had not raised the point in their own pleading, Accardi et al. v. Apple Inc., 25-cv-04160.

I am putting the disagreement here because a fund that looks like a single $25 can still have been argued as a stack of different phones. The court said the star was the same star. I will not improve the sentence. I will say a 16e and a 16 Pro Max share a commercial in this kitchen, and that sharing is a legal finding for settlement purposes, not a review of a camera.

Mira printed the order on a library machine because she wanted "the money page." The money page said presumptive $25 per eligible device, cap $95, report to the court before paying anyone above the cap, no payments without final approval. She asked if she should wait for a website. I said coverage in the late-summer 2026 rooms still said the claims site was not live, and that notice was to commence within forty-five days of the July 17 order, and that some lawyer calendars later named a September 21 start and a December 21 close as a proposed ninety days. I said proposed is a costume. She said then I will wait. Waiting is a kitchen. I did not tell her to file. I am not useful.

Who Is In, Who Is a Resale

The nationwide class, for settlement purposes: purchasers of the listed devices who reside in the United States and purchased in the United States for purposes other than resale, June 10, 2024, to March 29, 2025. Excluded: Apple; entities Apple controls; directors, officers, employees; legal representatives, successors, assigns; judicial officers on the case, their staff, their immediate families. I am typing the exclusions so a feeling cannot add a cousin who flipped phones. Silas's tray is a life. Resale is a door the class closed. Class counsel the order named: Ryan J. Clarkson of Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.; Brian Danitz of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP; Laurence D. King of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP. Three firms. One caption. I will not tour a fee application. Fees are a hearing the court said it would not decide before final approval.

Gwen works a counter that still takes a number for a license. I asked her if a wait that has a number is better than a wait that has a season. She said numbers are how you know you exist. I said keynotes use seasons. She said then keynotes should take a number. She called 47. Forty-seven is a joke I will not make into a prompt. I left. The number machine kept clicking. Clicking is honest.

Notice as a Forty-Five-Day Fuse

The July 17 order said the notice program would commence no later than forty-five days from that paper. Forty-five is a fuse that is not Cox's eight and is not DoNotPay's thirty. I am keeping the three fuses in different rooms so a clock cannot become a vibe. Some August and September 2026 walks said a claims site was still not live, and that a later lawyer calendar named September 21 and December 21 as a proposed ninety-day window. I will not upgrade a lawyer calendar to an order. I will say Mira is still waiting, and that waiting is what preliminary means, and that I am not useful about a form that has not appeared.

Joss runs a copy shop that still has a counter bell. Mira had been there. I went because I wanted a second copy of Document 94 and because Hugo binds and Joss stacks. Joss asked if it was homework. I said it was a class. He said classes are packets. He charged per page. Per page is honest. I took the stack. The stack said no payments without final approval. I put it next to Hugo's spine. Two costumes. One fund. Still proposed at the last step that pays.

Resale, Spoken at a Tray

Silas asked if a phone he had just priced was "in." I said in is a purchase in the United States, by a U.S. resident, not for resale, listed model, windowed dates. He said then the tray is a life after the class. I said the tray is a life anyway. He said lives depreciate. I said depreciation is not a commercial. He sold a 12. The student asked about Siri. He said speaker. I left. As-is stayed on the glass.

Rolf cuts keys in a booth that has a motor. I asked him if a copy of a key is the key. He said a copy opens the same door if the bitting is true. I said commercials copy a door that is still in the shop. He said then the commercial is a bad bitting. I said that is the motion. He cut a key for a stranger. Motors are waits you can hear. I liked the motor more than a snap.

Document 94, page by page, is not a check. It is a conditional certification for settlement purposes, a notice program, a hearing that can be adjourned without further notice, a promise that evidence of the settlement will not be used as an admission, a direction that no one is paid above $95 without a report to the court, a direction that no one is paid without final approval. I am walking those directions so Mira's printout cannot become a jackpot in a senior-center copier. Copiers jam. Jams are honest. Jackpots are podcasts.

The Objecting Plaintiffs wanted subclasses. The court said the star was the same star. I will not relitigate a 16e against a 16 Pro Max in this kitchen. I will say a commercial can saturate a list and still be one star for settlement purposes, and that settlement purposes are not a trial, and that February 24, 2027, is still a sitting if the calendar holds. Sittings are Greta's hours. Hours end. Wires wait.

Vin's unused jacket sat in my bag next to Joss's stack. Two papers. One album I will not play. Playing is a button I have learned not to press. Not pressing is Willa's job on Tuesdays and my job the rest of the week. I am not making the week a chain. I am making the bag a bag.