The iPhone 16 is already expensive, and analysts are now warning that you may have to pay extra monthly to get all its features.
According to reports, users can pay up to $20 per month for premium Apple Intelligence, the tech company’s new flagship AI system.
This system introduces a range of new AI features, including the ability to create custom images and ‘Genmojis’, improved Siri capabilities, email generation via ChatGPT integration, and more.
“I think eventually there will be some sort of gold, silver and bronze tier, and for the gold service they will charge a monthly fee,” technology industry analyst Dan Ives told DailyMail.com.
Apple Intelligence is scheduled to launch in October as part of the iOS 18 software update. But by fall 2025, Apple could start charging for premium AI features, analysts have warned.
According to analysts, Apple Intelligence is scheduled to launch in October as part of the iOS 18 software update. The app will likely be free at first.
But launching an AI system and building the infrastructure to support it is expensive, leaving analysts wondering how the company plans to offset losses on this new service.
According to Ives, Apple won’t start charging for AI features until 2025, possibly around the time the iPhone 17 launches in September next year.
That’s because charging for these features from the start would slow adoption. The idea is to get users hooked on the premium features before a fee is introduced.
“That’s straight out of the Apple handbook,” Ives said.
For example, when Apple TV+ launched in 2019, Apple offered a free one-year subscription to encourage people to sign up. Now, the free trial is just a week.
Apple Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 and the upcoming iPhone 16.
Among other things, Apple Intelligence will allow users to create their own emojis, or “Genmojis.” It’s too early to say whether this feature will be behind a paywall.
It’s too early to say which features will be behind a paywall and which won’t, but it’s likely Apple will categorize the offerings based on how advanced they are and only charge for the highest tier, Ives explained.
Analysts predict that if and when Apple implements a fee for premium Apple Intelligence features, it will likely cost between $15 and $20 per month.
That’s about the same as what other tech companies are charging for their more advanced AI offerings.
For example, OpenAI charges $20 per month for their ChatGPT Plus plan, which offers availability even during high demand, faster response speed, and priority access to new features.
Subscriptions allow technology companies to recoup the enormous costs of launching an AI product and building new data centers to support it.
According to a report by OpenAI, ChatGPT cost approximately $540 million to develop. The information.
But Apple’s biggest competitors, Google and Samsung, are keeping their AI offerings free for now — another reason Apple is unlikely to start charging right away.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI is free until the end of 2025, and Google is offering a year of its most expensive Google One subscription for free on new Chromebooks, which also gives access to the more advanced Gemini model.
Tyler Morgan, content creator and former Apple Sales Specialist, said he absolutely would not pay a monthly fee for premium Apple Intelligence features.
While it will be some time before Apple device users will have to pay for the premium features of Apple Intelligence, people are already venting their frustrations online.
“That’s not happening. We’ve gone too far down the path of subscription fatigue here,” wrote one person in a MacRumors Forum.
“These subscription models are getting absolutely ridiculous and it’s making me sick. I’m not paying up to $20 a month to use something that should be free with the purchase of a $1200 phone,” wrote another.
Even content creator and former Apple Sales Specialist Tyler Morgan said he wouldn’t pay for Apple Intelligence.
“I would probably pay to make content, but then I would cancel it so quickly,” he told DailyMail.com.
He makes educational TikTok videos about new Apple features and devices and also provides useful tips for users.
Ives, on the other hand, said the looming cost of Apple Intelligence won’t deter most people and certainly won’t deter them from buying the new iPhone 16 when it launches in September.
“I think consumers are going to line up for the iPhone 16. And this is really going to create a stir in the long run,” he said.