When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
Apple is set to launch its AI system, Apple Intelligence, later this year. However, reports indicate that the company may follow the lead of OpenAI and Anthropic by introducing a subscription-based model for premium features.
Will Apple Pass AI Costs to Customers Through Apple One?
“Apple Intelligence” was introduced at WWDC 2024, showcasing its capabilities across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
These features include a more sophisticated Siri, AI-enhanced photo editing, and smarter note-taking, designed to integrate seamlessly into the Apple ecosystem. While these tools will be freely available to most users, a tiered subscription model, possibly called “Apple Intelligence+,” may be in the works, according to new reports.
According to Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, “Software and services makes it more lucrative for Apple to pass it on with the Apple One subscription model.” He argued that Apple could charge a price within the $10 and $20 sweet spot for the AI service or bundle it with Apple One.
Apple One, priced at $19.95 per month, grants users access to a suite of services within the Apple ecosystem, including Apple Music and Apple TV+.
Apple's AI is finally here
Here are 12 ways you can use Apple Intelligence: pic.twitter.com/gaz5kKLeB0
— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) June 10, 2024
While integrating Apple Intelligence into Apple One may seem like a natural fit, some analysts argue that Apple has established a precedent of charging users for premium services, creating an expectation of extra fees.
According to Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, Apple is one of the rare companies that has “successfully monetized the value-added services it offers,” setting the stage for potential future monetization options once the AI drops.
“As a result, it has set a precedent with its users that they have to pay for more premium services. On this basis, it can’t be ruled out that Apple may choose to charge for more advanced features within its Apple Intelligence offering.”
The AI Price Tag: Who Will Foot the Bill?
Generative AI requires a lot of financial resources to train and run the models. This includes servers, thousands of GPUs, and data centers.
Furthermore, the ongoing competition among Big Tech companies has sparked an arms race, driving up the cost of computing power necessary to train these advanced models.
This trend has led many companies, such as OpenAI and Microsoft’s Copilot, to introduce premium paid options, catering to users who demand increased bandwidth and round-the-clock access. However, not all companies are following suit.
Meta’s LLaMA 3.1 405B took a different approach by providing a powerful, open-source large language model (LLM).
Apple is not the only phone manufacturer pursuing AI. Last month, Samsung unveiled its artificial intelligence offering, called the Galaxy AI.
Samsung has made AI a key focus this year. It sees it as the magical formula for driving sales of its premium smartphones at a time when customers are holding on to their devices for longer. Galaxy AI is a combination of small models designed to improve the overall smartphone experience. The AI can provide live translation, interpret conversations, and assist with transcribing texts. The generative AI also comes with a chatbot to generate text conversations on the go.
These AI features are free to use on all compatible Galaxy devices until the end of 2025, which is a slightly different approach than other companies have followed.
