The First Objection to Apple’s $250 Million Siri Settlement Was Filed October 16, 2026 — More Than Two Months Before the December 21 Deadline. Your $25-to-$95 Claim Is Not Affected, but an Appeal Later Could Delay Payment.

Short answer, as of October 20, 2026: no, not for now. The claim form for the Apple Siri false advertising settlement works exactly as before, the deadline is still December 21, 2026, and the payment formula is unchanged: a presumptive $25 per eligible iPhone, raised pro rata up to $95 if fewer people claim, or lowered if more do.

What is new: on October 16, 2026, the docket of Landsheft, et al. v. Apple Inc. (No. 5:25-cv-02668, N.D. Cal.) recorded an entry of the type “Objection” as Docket No. 102. Earlier the same day, the docket shows an entry titled “Permission for Electronic Case Filing” (Docket No. 101). It is the first objection we have seen in the case, filed more than two months before the objection deadline.

We do not know what it says or who filed it. The document is not in the free RECAP archive (our request returned “not found”). We will not guess at its content. An objection can target the deal as a whole, the plan for splitting the money, the lawyers’ fees or the awards to the named plaintiffs — the settlement agreement lists all four. The court notice says: “If there are objections, the Court will consider them.” The parties may answer them “no later than seven (7) calendar days prior to the Final Approval Hearing,” which is set for February 24, 2027 in San Jose.

Who qualifies: U.S. residents who bought an iPhone 16, 16e, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max in the United States, not for resale, between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. CBS News, quoting the official site, reports that the person filing “must be the person who originally purchased the device” and that there is “one cash payment per eligible device.” Payment options listed by CBS News are PayPal, Venmo, direct deposit or check.

When: the agreement says payments go out “within sixty (60) calendar days after the Effective Date or as soon as practicable thereafter.” The Effective Date comes only after final approval, final judgment, and the end of the appeal period — or the end of any appeal. A notice of appeal in a federal civil case is due “within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from” (Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4). In our October 14 article we worked out the best case: payment by about May 26, 2027, if the judge signs on the hearing day and nobody appeals.

This is where objections matter. Under the agreement, only class members who object in time keep the right to challenge the settlement later: anyone who does not “shall be deemed to have waived any objections and shall be foreclosed from making any objection … through appeal, collateral attack, or otherwise.” So a filed objection is what makes a later appeal possible. An appeal — even one only about the lawyers’ fees — holds up the Effective Date: it “shall not occur until such order or proceeding, pending application, or appeal is fully and finally adjudicated.” While an appeal is pending, Apple has up to “one (1) year from the entry of final approval order” to pay in the rest of the fund. An objection now does not mean an appeal later, and as of October 20, 2026 the court has not ruled on it.

If you just want the money: file one claim per qualifying phone at SmartphoneAISettlement.com by December 21, 2026. You will be asked to confirm that “at the time of purchase, the Claimant expected to receive a Siri Apple Intelligence feature and did not receive it.” Nothing about the October 16 objection requires you to do anything.

If you want to object: the agreement sets the rules. Only class members who have not opted out may object, and only for themselves — “Group objections, including ‘mass’ or ‘class’ objections, are prohibited.” The objection goes in writing to the court, not to the administrator: electronically through the court’s ECF system by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on December 21, 2026, or by mail postmarked by that date to the Clerk of Court, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Robert F. Peckham Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 280 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113, Case No. 5:25-cv-02668-NW. It must include your full name, address, telephone number and email address; the case name and number; information showing you are a class member; “a detailed statement of the grounds and evidence”; whether it applies to you, a subset of the class or the whole class; a list of objections you or your lawyer filed “within the past five years”; and your signature and date. Be aware that filings in a federal court are public records — your name and contact details become part of the docket.

Objecting does not cost you your payment: “A Settlement Class Member who objects to the Settlement may also submit a claim, which shall be processed in the same manner as all other claims.” But you cannot do both of the other two things: “You cannot both opt out and object to the Settlement.” To speak at the hearing, put a Notice of Intention to Appear in the objection; a lawyer representing an objector must enter an appearance at least 14 days before the hearing.

The dates: November 16, 2026 (our arithmetic) — latest day for class counsel’s fee motion, due “at least thirty-five (35) calendar days before the Objection and Exclusion Deadline” and to be posted on the settlement website within three days; Apple “reserves the right to object.” Anyone thinking of objecting to the fees can read that motion first. December 21, 2026 — claims, objections and opt-outs. February 24, 2027 — final approval hearing, Courtroom 3, 5th Floor, San Jose.

Real notices exist: the agreement provides for email and postcard notices from the administrator, Verita Global. The safe habit is to type SmartphoneAISettlement.com yourself instead of tapping a link. The administrator’s contacts, as published by CBS News: 1-888-988-8945, and Landsheft, et al. v. Apple Inc., Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 301132, Los Angeles, CA 90030-1132. The court notice adds: “Please do not call the court or the court clerk’s office to inquire about this settlement.”

Two things are new red flags with an objection on file. Nobody needs to “join” an objection or pay to support one — group objections are barred, and the parties and their lawyers are forbidden to solicit objections. And federal Rule 23(e)(5)(B) says no payment may be made for “forgoing or withdrawing an objection” or dropping an appeal unless the court approves it after a hearing. A message promising a bigger payout if you sign onto someone’s objection is not from the court or the administrator.

Do not mix this case up with the other one. Lopez v. Apple is the separate $95 million settlement over Siri recordings, capped at $20 per device; its claim deadline was July 2, 2025. Its official site says final reissued payments were scheduled for September 21, 2026 and “must be cashed or deposited by November 5, 2026.” A Lopez check has nothing to do with the iPhone 16 claim.

What is the Apple Siri lawsuit about? Buyers alleged that Apple advertised Apple Intelligence features for Siri when it sold the iPhone 16 line and the 15 Pro models, and that the features did not arrive. CBS News summarizes: customers “said they purchased iPhones expecting certain Siri features they allegedly did not receive.” Apple “has at all times denied and continues to deny any and all alleged wrongdoing,” the agreement says, adding that Apple “has delivered more than 20 Apple Intelligence features.” The first complaint was filed March 19, 2025. Class counsel Ryan Clarkson told CBS News the fund “represents the largest false advertising settlement in history”; Apple declined to comment.

What is a class-action lawsuit? Under federal Rule 23, “one or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all members” when, among other conditions, the group is so large that joining everyone individually is impracticable. That is why you are in this case without having sued: the named plaintiffs sued for every qualifying buyer, and a settlement binds everyone who does not opt out. It is also why Rule 23 gives “any class member” the right to object — the October 16 filing is that right being used.

The next hard dates are the fee motion, due by November 16, 2026, and the December 21 deadline, after which the full set of objections and the opt-out count will be known. Plaintiffs’ responses to objections are due a week before the February 24, 2027 hearing. The number of phones claimed decides whether a phone is worth closer to $25 or to $95; no count has been published as of October 20, 2026. We will report what Docket No. 102 says as soon as we can read it. For the payment-timing arithmetic, see our October 14 article; for eligibility and the $25-to-$95 math, our September 1 article.