Apple Could Reportedly Introduce a Paid Apple Intelligence Subscription to Drive Revenue

Apple Intelligence could become a new revenue stream for the company in the future, according to a report. The Cupertino-based tech giant announced its set of artificial intelligence (AI) features called Apple Intelligence at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024. Once launched, users will get features like Siri powered by AI, authoring tools through apps, and image generation features through the Image Playground. ChatGPT is also being integrated into the tech giant's operating systems. For now, these features will be available for free, but that could change in the future.

Apple Intelligence could get a paid level

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman stated in the Power On newsletter that the tech giant's long-term plan with Apple Intelligence could be to generate revenue through it. The report further adds that the company could launch a service called “Apple Intelligence +” in the future with some premium AI features that require a monthly fee to access, similar to your existing subscription to iCloud or Apple Music.

The rationale given by Gurman for creating more revenue channels through the software and services route is that the company has witnessed a decline in sales of its devices in recent years. The decline is due to a slower pace of hardware innovation, a lack of major design changes, and improved device longevity due to the use of more durable material.

According to the report, one way Apple could consider ensuring revenue growth despite slower consumer device upgrade cycles is to focus on its software-based AI services. The tech giant's deal with OpenAI is also said to give it a cut of the subscription revenue the AI ​​company generates from Apple users. Similar clauses could be put into deals with other speculated AI partners like Google and Anthropic.

Despite this speculation, Apple has said that the AI ​​features will be available for free to those using a compatible device. Notably, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will support Apple Intelligence at launch. AI features could be extended to older devices using Private Cloud Compute, the company's cloud servers to run AI computing, which was also announced at WWDC this year.