Apple could put Siri AI behind a paywall, but not for everyone; All you need to know

With the iOS 27 update, Apple will officially roll out the awaited Siri AI, but it may not be free if you rely on AI extensively. The Cupertino-based tech giant is reportedly considering a subscription plan with a higher AI limit through iCloud+.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, during his final earnings call, said that it is still in the early stages of deciding how it will price or offer AI services. Although we can expect different plans for AI usage, rather than a one-size-fits-all model. This is said to cater to power users who require higher usage limits.

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“In terms of what it means for compute cost, it's obviously early going for us, and so I don't want to say that we have a complete plan for that,” Cook said. “We do believe there will be people that want to use it a lot and we will have some kind of upgrade possibilities on iCloud+ where people can buy up the stack on iCloud+. We'll see how the pickup for that is.”

At WWDC 26, Apple indicated limited free usage for Image Playground. The company said that AI features within the app would have a daily free usage limit. Users with an iCloud+ subscription would be able to access higher daily limits than free users.

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With Cook’s remarks, we can now expect optional AI-focused add-ons such as higher AI usage limits, access to advanced AI features, and faster responses for iCloud+ subscribers. In addition, AI-powered features for Home app video recordings are only available to users who have Apple's 2 TB iCloud+ plan.

However, Apple has not provided any confirmation on the paid Siri AI plans, and we may have to wait until the iOS 27 update rolls out to see how it plans to offer advanced AI-powered features.