It looks like we are years away from Apple Intelligence becoming a paid service. That’s because it could be a few years before Apple Intelligence has a compelling enough feature set that will make people pay for it. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in his weekly Power On newsletter.
Apple Intelligence is still so new that Gurman believes it will "take three years" for the company to create a product that’s worth charging for, and even that "may be the best-case scenario."
Gurman suggested last month that Apple’s long-term plan is to develop something like Apple Intelligence+, with add-on features that users would shell out money every month to access. The company has already a tiered subscription setup for iCloud, so Apple Intelligence could work similarly to that. iCloud offers 5GB of free storage to all users, but for a fee, iCloud+ subscription plans include more storage and also access to features like iCloud Private Relay.
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Apple Intelligence To Be Free For Now
In the coming days, basic Apple Intelligence access could continue to be free, with more advanced features needing a monthly subscription. OpenAI and other companies charge for AI queries and image generation after a set free limit due to the computing power and costs associated with AI.
Currently, the first AI features are only partially available in the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 betas. Apple has introduced Writing Tools, some basic Siri improvements, smart replies in Messages and Mail, and a few other features like a Memory option in Photos, Image Playground, and Genmoji.
Apart from rolling out the first Apple Intelligence features that were announced at WWDC 2024, the company is still required to expand the functionality to more countries, including China and the European Union.
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How Much Will Apple Intelligence+ Cost?
The features that the company introduces might not be available until 2025, and there’s no word on when it might expand to more countries, so it’s not hard to see how it could take until 2027 or beyond to have a robust product.
For instance, Apple brought Emergency SOS via satellite alongside the iPhone 14 in 2022, a feature that the company plans to eventually charge a fee to use, but it will be at least 2025 before the first iPhone owners have to pay for it. Apple’s fee for Emergency SOS has not yet been announced.
When Apple does start charging for the AI features, it could get bundled with the existing iCloud+ plans or included as part of Apple One, Apple’s subscription bundle. Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah recently speculated that Apple could charge between $10 and $20 for Apple Intelligence, with the fee rolled into an Apple One plan. The basic Apple One plan is priced at $19.95 per month right now, and it includes 50GB iCloud+ storage, Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade.