Apple may put advanced intelligence features behind a paywall in the future

Apple would eventually charge a fee to offer access to its advanced suite of AI features. However, the subscription model is not expected to be put in place during initial rollout phase

Apple is reportedly planning to put its Apple Intelligence features behind a paywall in the future. According to a report by 9To5Google, citing Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple may eventually charge a fee for access to its suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features, called Apple Intelligence. However, the subscription model is not expected to be implemented during the initial rollout phase.

Addressing recent reports suggesting that Apple could charge around $20 per month for access to Apple Intelligence features, Gurman stated that while Apple is likely to make Apple Intelligence a paid service, this shift is not expected to happen soon. He noted that Apple plans to develop more advanced AI-powered features on top of those recently unveiled before introducing a fee. According to the report, Gurman indicated that it would take Apple “at least three years” to develop advanced AI features that would justify a subscription fee.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Apple is considering an “Apple Intelligence Plus” paid tier for its more advanced AI-powered features. The report suggested that the slowdown in hardware upgrades has led the Cupertino-based technology giant to consider relying more on service fees and subscriptions. However, the company is currently focused on refining the AI models that power Apple Intelligence. Offering these AI features at no additional cost initially will enable Apple to gather crucial feedback on performance and capabilities, which is essential for perfecting the model.

Apple introduced Apple Intelligence at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this year. Apple’s suite of AI features is integrated into the new iOS 18 operating system, offering tools for text generation, text summarisation, image editing, image generation, and more. Additionally, Apple Intelligence is set to power the revamped version of Siri, which is getting deeper integration into the system.

Apple has already rolled out the initial set of Apple Intelligence features with the iOS 18.1 developer beta update for testing on supported iPhone models.