Charles Martin
In the forthcoming Apple Intelligence features, there was no mention of any fees or subscription charges. That could change as early as 2027.
Apple has not specified when all of the first features of Apple Intelligence coming in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia will arrive. While the OS upgrades will be unveiled this spring, some of the AI features will be added to future updates spread across late 2024 and into early 2025.
AppleInsider has previously discussed that future Apple Intelligence features, particularly those for more advanced users, could come with a subscription or fee structure. That said, it is unlikely that users will see such features before 2027 at the earliest, according to Bloomberg's Power On newsletter.
The first set of features of Apple Intelligence include a combination of intelligent summarization abilities in programs like Mail and Messages, an improved Siri assistant, image generators, and more.
As with several of Apple's "add-on" services, such as Apple TV+ or iCloud+, more advanced features of Apple Intelligence are likely with a price tag. These features would likely be for specialized areas, or for large-scale services leveraging the Private Cloud Compute technology.
Subscription or paid features of Apple Intelligence are most likely be aimed mostly at corporate users, the education sector, or other business or specialist users. Some analysts have speculated that such a subscription could cost users as much as $20 per month.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
39 Comments
My only fear with this is that Apple might say Pages and Numbers are now enhanced with AI features and so make them subscription as well. MS has made a lot of money with Office365, why not do the same with iWork.
I really hope Apple doesn't do any subscription based model for their AI features. They make enough $ charging a premium for their devices. Don't screw their user-base over like MS and become even more greedy. If they continue to make good products/services they'll make their money. They don't need to force users to a subscription service for a built in OS feature, IMO. We'll see though. I am thinking of upgrading to the iPhone 16 when it arrives (from my 12) to have the new AI features. I'd be PISSED if they were to force me to pay even more $ to use certain things that should be standard.
I subscribe to Apple One. I don’t play any games or care about fitness tracking, but it’s still a good deal. IF they add AI to One, great. If they charge a tiny bit more, OK. If they creat a new tier, I won’t care. AI is a big nothing burger for me.
I use ChatGPT because both Siri and Google are horrible at answering my questions and ChatGPT does a better job even though it’s not perfect. I have no idea about 4.0 because I’m not willing to pay for it and I’m not expecting to pay for Apple Intelligence once Apple decides to charge for it. I definitely will be looking forward to it though, if it’s for no additional cost. I have no idea if Apple intends to fix Predictive Typing with Apple Intelligence, but I wish they would. In my opinion, Predictive Typing does a horrible job. It changes my typing mistakes into nonsensical words and also actual words that make absolutely no sense within the context of the sentence.