Apple Likely Won't Charge for Apple Intelligence Features Until At Least 2027

[kiranmk2]

If the devolution of the Apple app store is anything to go by then it'll work something like this...

You get 25 free gems a day (you lose any unspent free gems at the end of each day).
Each use of Apple Intelligence costs 5 gems.
(unseen by the user the algorithm is designed to only partially answer any question you ask using your free gems to encourage you to spend money)
You can then buy more Apple Intelligence Gems through the app store...

I think it will go something like this. I'm hoping that not even Apple would charge for on-device output (you've bought the hardware and you are paying to power it), but for things that go to the cloud I can see it being tiered like ChatGPT where free users get a certain number of queries per day (e.g. ChatGPT allows a certain number of GPT-4o queries a day before dropping back to GPT-3 and 2 Dall-E image generations per day on a free account), and you have to pay to go beyond this.

 

[wanha]

That's obviously very different from the more LLM-based generative AI stuff that makes up the vast majority of Apple Intelligence. Image generation and email rewriting, are nothing new and nothing valuable, while improved Siri is something that should be included as a feature of the phone. Paying for Apple Intelligence feels very much like paying a subscription to use the heated seats in your car.

I get what you are saying but wasn't the exact point of this article that Apple won't charge for AI for several years?

Also, I'd add that I struggle to find many examples in Apple's history where they've done a bait-and-switch where they put a subscription on something that used to be free.

What they have historically done is keep existing features free and make whatever new AI features they come up with payable, and I would expect the same thing to happen here.

I see it as incredibly unlikely that they would suddenly hide, say, SiriAI behind a subscription, because that's not how they have historically operated.

 

[chfilm]

So it'll take until 2027 till we get in in the EU?

 

[boss.king]

I get what you are saying but wasn't the exact point of this article that Apple won't charge for AI for several years?

Not charging for it for several years implies that they will charge for it at some point. Otherwise you'd just say Apple won't charge for it and not put a timeframe on it.

Also, I'd add that I struggle to find many examples in Apple's history where they've done a bait-and-switch where they put a subscription on something that used to be free.

I didn't say that's what they'd do, but we're also in the phase of Apple pivoting aggressively to subscription revenue more than they ever have before. We can't always judge a company by it's past actions.

What they have historically done is keep existing features free and make whatever new AI features they come up with payable, and I would expect the same thing to happen here.

Yup, again, I never made that argument.

I see it as incredibly unlikely that they would suddenly hide, say, SiriAI behind a subscription, because that's not how they have historically operated.

I get what you're saying, but since improved Siri is part of Apple Intelligence, dividing an already convoluted feature up into sub features that get bundled into a confusing subscription isn't Apple's style either. This is uncharted territory and I feel like Apple could go either way with this stuff. They haven't been making the best product and customer decisions as of late, so who knows where this goes.

 

[iwan073]

Like everything, get ‘em hooked and make ‘em pay!

Exactly what I came here to say 👍

 

[zoozx]

Remember 10 yrs ago with the iPhone 14 that didn't have any of this pay crap, that's what I want.

 

[tobybrut]

I hope Apple puts an option in the setting app to turn off AI. If they require a subscription for iPhone because of AI I'm heading back to Android.

There’s already a switch to turn it off in the Apple Intelligence and Siri Settings panel. Right at the very top is a setting called Apple Intelligence with an on/off switch. So you already got what you hoped for.

 

[CorvusFox]

"AI" won't exist in 3 years.

 

[Soks]

Charge all you want, Apple.
I don't want it or need it. If it's available for free I may try it out, but I'm not paying you anything on top of the cost of the phone.

 

[CausticSoda]

Well I guess they realise how far behind the curve they are on this.

 

[Karma*Police]

So many people here are skimming this article and missing the fact that Apple has said that all of the AI features that they have announced do far are free. The rumor, that was published last month and seems to be making the rounds again, is that at some point in the future, Apple may build in more advanced AI features and may for those features. They don’t need to start charging for features that are already free.

Ok so rumors upon rumors. Got it, thank you.

I think the only factual statement now is that Apple has once again fallen behind in a critical category, and like Siri and HomePod, may never catch up.

 

[iFunk]

If Apple could couple in a value add with CSAM photo-scanning I would be all in. Its my way of helping Apple with their revenue so they can be the most profitable company ever! Everyone should be willing to chip and help the Apple Executives earn bigger bonuses so they can buy more stuff to keep the economy going strong! RIGHT!?!

 

[jgreg728]

Depends what gets charged. If they end up having a ChatGPT replacement that they can build into the system then I can see a fee being attached to that. But charging for stupid basic crap like text summaries and proofreading no one’s gonna wanna shell out money for that.

 

[Debauch]

So if I don't pay, does that mean I end up with a "dumb" phone?

No. Much worse. You get to keep the current Siri.

 

[MNWildFan]

Apple should just continue to make iOS and Intelligence a free upgrade. Paying for certain Intelligence features would suck.

Paying extra for MLS sucks when I already pay for Apple One.

I agree

As someone who is also a MLS fan with being in one of the markets they're in, it is a bummer that having to pay extra for that outside of Apple One for sure

If anything, I'd be more than willing to pay a little more for an Apple One bundle that also includes MLS Season Pass

 

[VulchR]

I could see paying a small fee each month for non-emergency satellite communications for the iPhone, but paying a subscription for AI supposedly run locally on my device? Nope. Not a snowball's chance in hell.

 

[MNWildFan]

Of course! They are waiting for late iPhone upgraders to own “eligible“ phones.

Which could probably explain why they still haven't announced any pricing for the emergency SOS via satellite or messages via satellite as well

 

[MNWildFan]

"AI" won't exist in 3 years.

Yup, because it'll just be integrated into everything to the point where we won't need to hype it up as a feature like we have been for the past few years

Aside from things that it kind of has existed in for a while already like the keyboard's autocorrect and other things, I still don't see the appeal of AI in it's current state

It still honestly feels like a party/parlor trick to me

 

[PsykX]

I think most of it will become free by 2027... competition is ferocious.

Bing already makes GPT-4 available for free along with image generation.

• Windows has some free features of Co-pilot.
• Android has Gemini for free.
• OpenAI is aggressively dropping their prices with gpt-4o-mini and the ability to use gpt-4o for free and the ability to generate 2 free pictures per day. Although one could argue they're still being greedy because it was meant to be free and open since the very beginning. Elon Musk is going to sue them for that.
• xAI is also coming.

Unless there will be more crazy new features coming soon in the next few years - which we all know Apple is going to bet on Apple Intelligence.

 

[Quicksilver867]

Hot take: AI features will have been removed by 2027.

 

[9081094]

it would have to be VERY VERY compelling for me in order to subscribe, as much as I know right now, it's not gonna happen

This story proves that Apple’s AI-offerings will be the new Siri till at least 2027. And if hystory repeats make that 2037.

 

[bushman4]

Apple charging for AI give me a break
AI is in its infancy and not needed by most people
When Apple shows me AI features I really want. I still don’t think I would pay for it
Show me the features and then I’ll decide

 

[jwdsail]

It will likely be years before Apple Intelligence has a compelling enough feature set that people will pay for, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said in this week's Power On newsletter. Apple Intelligence is still so new that Gurman expects it will "take three years" for Apple 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 pay a monthly fee to access. Apple already has a tiered subscription setup for iCloud, so Apple Intelligence could work similar to that.

iCloud provides 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. In the future, basic Apple Intelligence access could continue to be free, with more advanced features requiring a 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.

As of right now, the first Apple Intelligence features are only partially available in the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 betas. Apple has added Writing Tools, some basic Siri improvements, smart replies in Messages and Mail, and a few other features like a Memory Maker option in Photos, but Image Playground, Genmoji, and the bulk of the Siri upgrades won't be coming until later in 2024 and 2025.

In addition to fully rolling out the first Apple Intelligence features that were announced at WWDC 2024, Apple still needs to work to expand the functionality to more countries, including China and the European Union. The features that Apple showed off in June likely won't all be available until 2025, and there's no word yet on when it might expand to more countries (including other languages), so it's not hard to see how it could take until 2027 or beyond to have a robust product.

As another reference point, Apple introduced 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 Apple Intelligence, it could be baked into 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.

Article Link: Apple Likely Won't Charge for Apple Intelligence Features Until At Least 2027

And, I likely won't be paying for it (on top of the cost of the phone)... ever.

If it's on-device, and those are the only features I'm interested in, I'm not paying more for it. Just like I'll never pay for heated seats in a car I already purchased, or CarPlay..

Apple really needs to include a sample of what they're smoking with every purchase. We all should have the opportunity to see the colors and trails they see.

 

[jwdsail]

Or maybe like Apple's pro app Aperture. Build a strong pro app, convince users to build enterprise-critical workflows around it, then kill it. Just like Apple had previously done with MacProject. Never trust Apple.

I miss Aperture.

Still have two older Macs around just to use it from time to time, because for how I take photos from events like auto racing and airshows, it's 1000% better than anything else I've tried.

Would gladly pay Apple another $199-$299 for a new version.

That goes double for QTVR.

And HyperCard.

Sigh.

 

[maxoakland]

It's hard to believe people would pay for these AI features