Apple announced iOS 18 at its WWDC developers conference on June 10. One of the biggest software updates we've ever seen, iOS 18 brings some incredible new features and more customization options to the iPhone than ever before. But the biggest addition is Apple Intelligence – Apple's set of AI features.
When it finally launches in October, a month after the September iPhone event it was supposed to arrive at, Apple Intelligence will be free to use. But it might not stay that way forever.
Last month, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg suggested that Apple Intelligence will be free to kick off but will likely evolve into "Apple Intelligence+" at a later date. Now, another analyst has also warned of Apple's potential AI paywall. Counterpoint Research's Neil Shah told CNBC that Apple might bundle these features into a revamped Apple One subscription, predicting a modest hike of $10 to $20 a month.
Another subscription service from Apple
Ben Wood, the top brain at CCS Insight, also chimed in to CNBC, pointing out Apple’s knack for monetizing its services. He hinted that charging for advanced AI features would be just another notch in Apple’s belt. I imagine this would be in the form of a new Apple One tier that’s even more "premium."
In the June quarter, Apple’s services revenue hit a whopping $24.2 billion, up from $21.2 billion the previous year. It’s clear why they’d want to tap into AI as another cash cow. The slowing pace of hardware upgrades isn’t a problem if you can just get everyone to subscribe to more services.
So while we all get to bask in the glory of free Apple Intelligence features for now, don’t be surprised when you see that extra charge on your Apple subscription at a later date. Apple likely won't paywall all of its AI features, but more likely the most powerful tools. I imagine that the free version of Apple Intelligence would look something like the version we got in the first iOS 18.1 developer beta – missing the new Siri, image generation features, and a few others.
