Apple’s $250 Million Siri Settlement: Claims Are Due December 21, 2026, and Payment Is Due Within 60 Days After the Order Becomes Final (About May 26, 2027 in the Best Case) — and One Appeal Could Push It to 2028

Short answer, as of October 14, 2026: nobody gets money from the $250 million Apple Siri false advertising settlement until the court has given final approval and the time to appeal has run out. The settlement agreement filed in Landsheft v. Apple Inc. (No. 5:25-cv-02668-NW, N.D. Cal.) says payments go out “within sixty (60) calendar days after the Effective Date or as soon as practicable thereafter.” The Effective Date is the first day after the court has entered a final approval order and final judgment and “the time for appeal or writ of certiorari has expired” — or, if someone appeals, after the appeal is over.

The final approval hearing is set for February 24, 2027 in San Jose. 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). By our arithmetic, if Judge Noël Wise signed the final order on the day of the hearing and no one appealed, the appeal window would close on March 26, 2027, and the 60-day payment period would end around May 26, 2027. That is the best-case deadline, not the earliest possible payment, because the agreement sets a 60-day maximum. It is also not a promise: the judge can rule later than the hearing, and the agreement allows “as soon as practicable thereafter.” The official site’s own line, as quoted by CBS News, is: “If there is no appeal, your settlement benefit will be processed promptly.”

If there is an appeal — including one only about the lawyers’ fees — payment waits. The agreement says the Effective Date “shall not occur until such order or proceeding, pending application, or appeal is fully and finally adjudicated,” and gives Apple until “one (1) year from the entry of final approval order” to pay the rest of the money in while an appeal is pending. Because Apple has up to a year from final approval to fund while an appeal is pending, an appeal could push payment into 2028.

One correction to coverage still circulating: 9to5Mac’s September 21 article says “The final approval hearing for payouts is September 29, 2027.” That was the date in the July 17, 2026 preliminary approval order; on August 13, 2026 the court moved the hearing up to February 24, 2027.

Who qualifies for Apple settlement? U.S. residents who bought an iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max in the United States, not for resale, between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. The base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are not covered. According to the official site as quoted by CBS News, the person filing “must be the person who originally purchased the device.” The lawsuit alleged that Apple advertised Apple Intelligence Siri features that buyers did not receive; Apple denies wrongdoing, and the agreement says it is not an admission of liability.

How do I know if I am part of the Apple settlement? If you bought one of those phones in that window, you are in the class whether or not a notice reached you. The administrator, Verita Global, is sending email notices “in multiple waves, including an initial email and two or more reminder emails,” and postcards to people for whom Apple has a mailing address but no email. A notice is not a claim, and not having one does not exclude you.

How much will each person get from the Apple settlement? It is per phone, not per person. The agreement sets “a presumptive payment from the Net Settlement Amount of $25 per Eligible Device,” reduced pro rata if claims exceed the money, and increased pro rata “up to a per-device cap of ninety-five dollars ($95).” Plaintiffs counted about 37 million eligible devices. In our September analysis, after up to 28% in fees and expenses and up to $5,444,056 for administration, about $174 million would remain: $25 a device works if about 7 million devices are claimed (about 19%), and the $95 cap is reached at about 1.8 million (about 5%). No claim count has been published as of October 14, 2026. Money left after the cap cannot go back to Apple: “In no event shall any residual funds revert to Apple.”

How to claim Apple Siri settlement? File at the official site, SmartphoneAISettlement.com, one claim form per phone. CBS News and 9to5Mac describe the form: name, address, phone number and the iPhone’s serial number (Settings > General > About), then a payment choice — PayPal, Venmo, direct deposit or check. The agreement says the form is not signed under penalty of perjury, but you must confirm the purchase, give “information sufficient to confirm the Claimant’s purchase … such as serial number, Apple Account ID, or phone number associated with the Eligible Device,” and confirm that at purchase you “expected to receive a Siri Apple Intelligence feature and did not receive it.” A 9to5Mac reader reports the form offers “I don’t have the serial number” and then asks for the Apple account ID — useful if the phone was traded in.

• November 16, 2026 (our arithmetic): latest date for class counsel’s fee motion, which must be filed “at least thirty-five (35) calendar days before the Objection and Exclusion Deadline” and posted on the settlement website within three days. Plaintiffs have said they will ask for no more than 28% of the fund; Apple “reserves the right to object.” Counsel will also seek service awards “not to exceed $2,000 per person” for the named plaintiffs.
• December 21, 2026: deadline to file a claim, to object (including to the fee request) and to opt out. Opt-outs are individual only.
• February 24, 2027: final approval hearing, San Jose.
• About May 26, 2027 (our arithmetic): end of the 60-day payment period if the order comes that day and no one appeals; payment can come sooner.

Once payments go out, cash them: under the agreement, checks are void 120 days after issuance, with 30 more days to ask for a reissue; after that the money is forfeited.

Genuine notices exist: the administrator is emailing class members from Apple’s customer data, with reminders. The safe way to treat any email is to type the address yourself — SmartphoneAISettlement.com — rather than clicking. The official 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. Treat any message that asks for a fee, your Apple Account password or a bank login to “release” a payment as a red flag; the claim form described in the agreement asks for a serial number, Apple Account ID or phone number to confirm the purchase, not for passwords. The administrator says it will reject “duplicative or fraudulent” claims, so filing for a phone you did not buy, or twice for one phone, gets you nothing.

Do not confuse this case with the other Siri settlement. Lopez v. Apple, the $95 million settlement over Siri recordings, closed claims on July 2, 2025 and paid in January 2026. An email about that case now is either old or fake; it has nothing to do with the iPhone 16 claim form.

Class counsel Ryan Clarkson told CBS News the fund “represents the largest false advertising settlement in history.” Apple declined to comment and has denied the allegations. The settlement is non-reversionary: Apple was to pay $5,444,056 for notice and administration within 30 days of preliminary approval, and the rest is due only after the Effective Date, or within a year of final approval if an appeal is pending.

The next hard fact is the fee motion, due by November 16, 2026 by our arithmetic. At the 28% ceiling plaintiffs have described, that is up to $70 million out of the $250 million, and every dollar of it comes out of what class members share. The second is the claim count, which typically appears in the final-approval papers before February 24, 2027; it decides whether a phone is worth closer to $25 or to $95. Our earlier article on the claim opening and the deadline remains the reference for the arithmetic; this one tracks the payout.