Published
October 24, 2026
iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch buyers, Illinois Photos users and the banks that issue Apple Pay cards were all part of Apple class action developments in October 2026, led by a judge’s certification of a card-issuer class over Apple Pay fees. Only one Apple settlement, the $250 million Apple Intelligence case, is taking claims; the pending lawsuits have nothing to file.
Pending Cases Are Allegations Only
This article summarizes class action complaints, court rulings and one settlement. The claims in the pending lawsuits are unproven allegations. Apple denies them, has not been found liable in any of them, and none of them has a settlement or claim form. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
Apple is a defendant in class actions on several fronts in 2026: consumer suits over how it markets iPhones and privacy features, antitrust cases over iCloud, iPads and Apple Pay, a long-running Illinois biometric privacy case over the Photos app, and a suit over software support for older Apple Watches. Two of those cases were filed in October.The most significant recent ruling came on September 23, 2026, when a federal judge in Oakland let banks and credit unions sue Apple together over the fees it charges them for Apple Pay. In Illinois, plaintiffs who won class certification in June are now asking the court to approve a notice to millions of Photos users.
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Status
One Settlement Open · Lawsuits Pending
as of October 24, 2026
Latest Ruling
Apple Pay card-issuer class certified
N.D. Cal. · September 23, 2026 · Judge Jeffrey S. White
Next Deadline
November 5, 2026
last day to cash or deposit a reissued $95M Siri settlement payment
Every Case at a Glance
| Case | Issue | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Intelligence SiriLandsheft v. Apple Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 5:25-cv-02668 | Alleged marketing of Siri features before they shipped | $250M settlement; claims due December 21, 2026 |
| Siri privacyLopez v. Apple Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 4:19-cv-04577 | Alleged Siri recordings without a wake word | $95M settlement; reissued payments must be cashed by November 5, 2026 |
| iPhone Wi-Fi 7Smith v. Apple Inc. · Santa Clara County No. 26CV506247 | “Wi-Fi 7” label on phones without 320 MHz or 4096-QAM | Filed October 16, 2026; deemed complex October 21 |
| Amazon iPad salesFurdek v. Amazon.com, Inc. · W.D. Wash. No. 2:26-cv-03843 | Alleged deal to limit Apple resellers on Amazon | Filed October 9, 2026 |
| Apple Pay feesAffinity Credit Union v. Apple Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 4:22-cv-04174 | Fees charged to banks and credit unions | Card-issuer class certified September 23, 2026 |
| Photos faceprintsDoe v. Apple Inc. · S.D. Ill. No. 3:20-cv-00421 | People album face grouping under Illinois’ biometric privacy law | Class certified June 5, 2026; notice motion pending |
| iCloud storageGamboa v. Apple Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 5:24-cv-01270 | Alleged tie between iPhone backups and iCloud | In discovery |
| Safari trackingSimpson v. Apple, Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 5:26-cv-06307 | Browser fingerprinting despite privacy marketing | Apple moved to dismiss October 2, 2026 |
| Apple Watch softwareGoetz v. Apple Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 5:26-cv-08384 | End of software support for older watches | Amended complaint filed October 5, 2026 |
The One Apple Settlement Taking Claims
The $250 million Apple Intelligence settlement resolves claims that Apple advertised personalized Siri features as part of the iPhone 16 lineup before they existed. Apple denies wrongdoing. Claims opened September 21, 2026, and the deadline to file, opt out or object is December 21, 2026.The court docket shows an objection to the settlement was filed on October 16, 2026. Class counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees is due to be posted on the settlement website by November 17, 2026, and Judge Noël Wise has set the final approval hearing for February 24, 2027 in San Jose. Which iPhones qualify and what the claim form asks for are on OCA’s Apple Intelligence settlement claim page.
The Siri Privacy Settlement’s Last Payments
The separate $95 million settlement over Siri recordings, Lopez v. Apple Inc., closed to new claims on July 2, 2025 and paid claimants in January 2026. Its final round is a reissue of payments that expired uncashed: requests closed September 3, 2026, the reissued payments were scheduled for September 21, and they must be cashed or deposited by November 5, 2026. The reissue process is explained in OCA’s Siri settlement payment reissue report.Two New Suits in October: Wi-Fi 7 and iPads on Amazon
On October 16, 2026, a California buyer sued Apple in Santa Clara County Superior Court alleging the iPhone 17 and iPhone 18 Pro models are sold as Wi-Fi 7 devices even though their wireless chip tops out at 160 MHz channels and 1024-QAM. Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson deemed the case complex on October 21 and set a case management conference for February 3, 2027. The models and the technical claims are covered in OCA’s iPhone Wi-Fi 7 lawsuit report.A week earlier, on October 9, iPad buyers filed Furdek v. Amazon.com, Inc. in federal court in Seattle, naming Amazon and Apple. It alleges a 2018 agreement between the companies removed most independent Apple resellers from Amazon and raised iPad prices, and it proposes a class of U.S. residents who bought a new iPad from the Amazon Buy Box since May 7, 2020. The new case follows an earlier suit over the same alleged agreement that was dismissed in 2025; the Amazon and Apple iPad lawsuit report explains the connection. Both October cases are at the complaint stage.
Apple Pay Fees: Card Issuers Certified as a Class
Three credit unions, Affinity Credit Union, GreenState Credit Union and Consumers Co-Op Credit Union, sued Apple in July 2022 alleging that the fees Apple charges card issuers for Apple Pay are inflated because Apple makes Apple Pay the only tap-to-pay method on iPhones. According to the complaint, Apple charges issuers 0.15% of each Apple Pay credit card transaction and half a cent per debit transaction.On September 23, 2026, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White granted the motion for class certification and denied Apple’s motion to exclude the plaintiffs’ economist, the docket shows. Payments Dive reported that the class includes all U.S. entities that issued an Apple Pay-enabled payment card and paid Apple a fee, and that it could number in the thousands. The class does not include consumers who use Apple Pay. In a 2023 filing, Apple argued that Apple Pay competes with the many other ways consumers pay; it did not respond to Payments Dive’s request for comment on the ruling. Opening expert reports are now due January 22, 2027.
Illinois Photos Faceprint Case Moves Toward Class Notice
The oldest pending Apple class action on this list began in 2020 in Illinois state court and is now Doe v. Apple Inc., No. 3:20-cv-00421, before Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel in federal court in southern Illinois. It alleges that the Photos app’s People album, which groups pictures by face, collects faceprints without the written consent Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act requires. Apple is contesting the claims.The court certified the case as a class action on June 5, 2026. The main class covers every Illinois citizen whose Apple device put a photo of that citizen into a People album from September 13, 2016 onward. A ruling on September 30, 2026 on the parties’ summary judgment motions narrowed the case and decertified one of three subclasses, though the court said those members remain in the main class. On October 14, the plaintiffs asked the court to approve an email notice to the class, citing Apple’s 2022 figure of about 8.7 million Apple IDs with Illinois billing addresses on devices that could run the People album feature. Apple has argued notice should wait while a related state-court class certification motion is pending. The court has not ruled.
This case is separate from the newer Illinois suit over Face ID, described below.
Privacy Suits Filed This Summer
Three privacy complaints filed in June and July 2026 remain at an early stage. Simpson v. Apple, Inc., filed June 24 in San Jose, alleges Safari allows browser fingerprinting despite Apple’s privacy marketing; after an amended complaint in August, Apple moved to dismiss on October 2, according to the docket. Alvarez v. Apple Inc., filed July 15, alleges Apple kept selling Hide My Email after a researcher reported a flaw that could link aliases to real addresses. An Illinois federal suit filed in early July alleges Face ID’s attention feature scans users’ eyes without consent under the state’s biometric law.Each is covered on its own page: the Safari fingerprinting lawsuit, the Hide My Email lawsuit and the Face ID eye-scan lawsuit. None has a certified class.
iCloud Storage Cases in the U.S. and the UK
In San Jose, Gamboa v. Apple Inc. alleges Apple reserves the files needed to fully restore an iPhone to iCloud, so paid iCloud users have no real alternative. The case survived a motion to dismiss in June 2025 and is in discovery; on October 20, 2026 a magistrate judge ruled on a dispute over deposing Google. No class has been certified. OCA’s iCloud antitrust case update tracks the docket.In Britain, the Competition Appeal Tribunal certified the consumer group Which?’s claim over iCloud on June 17, 2026. That case covers UK users only, and its October 8, 2026 opt-out and opt-in deadline has passed; the UK iCloud claim report has the background.
Apple Watch Software Support Suit
Goetz v. Apple Inc., filed August 12, 2026 in the Northern District of California, challenges Apple’s decision to end software support for older Apple Watches while the hardware still worked. The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on October 5, 2026. It is unrelated to the closed Apple Watch battery settlement; the Apple Watch software support lawsuit page explains the difference.The Justice Department Case Is Not a Class Action
The Justice Department’s 2024 antitrust suit against Apple over smartphone competition is a government case, so it has no class and no consumer claim process. On October 21, 2026, Apple and the government told the court they disagree over how recent the documents Apple must produce should be, 9to5Mac reported; fact discovery is now scheduled to close in late May 2027. OCA follows it in its DOJ Apple antitrust case report.Questions
Is there an Apple class action settlement open for claims?
One, as of October 24, 2026: the $250 million Apple Intelligence settlement in Landsheft v. Apple Inc., which covers certain iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models bought in the U.S. between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. Claims are due December 21, 2026. None of the pending Apple lawsuits described on this page has a settlement or claim form.
Does the Apple Pay class certification cover iPhone users?
The class Judge Jeffrey S. White certified on September 23, 2026 in Affinity Credit Union v. Apple Inc. is made up of U.S. banks, credit unions and other entities that issued Apple Pay-enabled payment cards and paid Apple a fee. Consumers who use Apple Pay are not class members. The fee claims are unproven, and Apple has argued that Apple Pay competes with the other ways people pay.
Who is in the Illinois Apple Photos faceprint class?
The main certified class in Doe v. Apple Inc. (originally Hazlitt v. Apple Inc.), No. 3:20-cv-00421 in federal court in southern Illinois, covers every Illinois citizen whose Apple device put a photograph of that citizen into a People album from September 13, 2016 onward. A narrower iCloud Faceprint Subclass covers certain users with large iCloud photo libraries from March 25, 2025. The court has not approved a class notice yet, and the claims under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act are unproven.
Is the $95 million Siri privacy settlement still paying?
Only through reissued payments. The claim deadline in Lopez v. Apple Inc. was July 2, 2025, and the window to ask for a reissue of an expired payment closed September 3, 2026. Final reissued payments were scheduled for September 21, 2026 and must be cashed or deposited by November 5, 2026, according to the settlement website.
Sources
• Affinity Credit Union v. Apple Inc., No. 4:22-cv-04174 (N.D. Cal.), docket via CourtListener, including the September 23, 2026 order granting class certification (Dkt. 329)• Payments Dive, “Apple lawsuit becomes class action” (September 29, 2026)
• Doe v. Apple Inc. (formerly Hazlitt v. Apple Inc.), No. 3:20-cv-00421 (S.D. Ill.), docket via CourtListener, and Plaintiffs’ Amended Motion for Approval of Class Notice (October 14, 2026)
• Landsheft v. Apple Inc., No. 5:25-cv-02668 (N.D. Cal.), docket via CourtListener
• Furdek v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-03843 (W.D. Wash.), docket via CourtListener
• Gamboa v. Apple Inc., No. 5:24-cv-01270 (N.D. Cal.), docket via CourtListener
• Simpson v. Apple, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-06307 (N.D. Cal.), docket via CourtListener
• Goetz v. Apple Inc., No. 5:26-cv-08384 (N.D. Cal.), docket via CourtListener
• 9to5Mac, “Apple and DOJ notify court of impasse over document cutoff in antitrust lawsuit” (October 21, 2026)
• Hoodline, “California buyer sues Apple, says iPhone 17 Wi-Fi 7 speeds were a mirage” (October 2026)
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Status
One settlement open · lawsuits pending
Defendant
Apple Inc.
Latest Ruling
Apple Pay card-issuer class certified (N.D. Cal., September 23, 2026)
Newest Filing
Smith v. Apple Inc., iPhone Wi-Fi 7 (Santa Clara County, October 16, 2026)
Open Claims
Apple Intelligence settlement — due December 21, 2026
Official Website
Apple Pay Case Docket
