Apple Intelligence might get a paid tier
Apple's marketing this year will most likely be all about AI - aka Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI features it unveiled last month alongside iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. Apple Intelligence will be in beta even after the full launch of these OSes this fall, but still free to use - that is, of course, if you have a compatible device like an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, or, presumably, one of the iPhone 16 family, while on the Mac and iPad side you need one with Apple's M-series chips.
Apple Intelligence may not however stay free forever, according to a new report from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, a source who is always very accurate regarding Apple-related stuff. He posits that the company will, at some point in the not so distant future, separate Apple Intelligence into two tiers.
One will continue to be free but have a limited set of features, whereas to get the full suite of AI functionality on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you'll have to pay for something like Apple Intelligence+.
This will be a subscription plan just like all the other Apple "+" services, and will ensure Apple counters the recent trend of people upgrading their devices much later than they used to. So the company is expected to make less money from selling devices and more from services - and Apple Intelligence is a key part of that strategy.
Moreover, Apple plans to get a cut of the subscription revenue from every AI partner that it integrates into its devices, in a similar way to how it gets a cut from subscriptions made to third-party services through the App Store (EU notwithstanding).
This report provides an interesting look at how Apple views its future income streams, and if you already hate the myriad subscriptions you pay for every month, get ready for things to become even worse.