If you own an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any of the four iPhone 16 models, you can use Apple Intelligence for free. The same goes for iPads and Macs that feature Apple M-series chips. Apple Intelligence is available for free as part of the respective iOS, iPadOS, and macOS updates.
At the same time, Apple Intelligence, in its current state, is incomplete compared to what Apple showed at WWDC 2024. It’ll take several more months to get that full Apple Intelligence functionality on the iPhone. And even then, work on Apple Intelligence will not stop as the company should add new capabilities year after year.
In its current state, Apple Intelligence can only be free. Will Apple ever charge for it? Tim Cook addressed the question in an interview, saying that the tech is as similar and pivotal as the iPhone’s multitouch feature, which you also get for free with your iPhone purchase.
Apple Intelligence was one of the main topics in Wired’s wide-ranging interview with Tim Cook. That’s when the question about Apple Intelligence’s potential price came up:
Wired: Some companies charge for AI-enhanced services. Did you consider that?
Tim Cook: We never talked about charging for it. We view it sort of like multitouch, which enabled the smartphone revolution and the modern tablet.
That’s a great way to frame the answer. Cook is practically saying that Apple Intelligence will be a key tech for Apple products, including the iPhone, just like multitouch is. The latter is a key innovation that made touchscreen devices like the iPhone and iPad possible.
We hardly talk about multitouch support in iPhone or Android products because that’s a feature we take for granted. They’re all touch-first devices. That’s how we interact with them.
Cook’s answer is somewhat misleading because the comparison is valid up to a point. While I’m sure multitouch gets innovations that go under the radar, Apple Intelligence and genAI, in general, will see tremendous progress in the coming years that will not go under the radar.
Apple’s Apple Intelligence innovations will take the spotlight year after year. Some of those features might require extra costs, which might be passed on to the buyer.
As a user, I’ll want to pay for a secure, private, ad-free AI experience, whether Apple’s or someone else’s.
That said, Cook’s take on Apple Intelligence being free is in line with what I’m expecting for Apple’s AI in the near future. I explained earlier this year why Apple Intelligence should always be free. Well, make that “free,” because iPhone users will always be paying for it by paying a premium price for the iPhone.
I still think that’s going to be true for several years, even after Apple catches up with its rivals. Cook’s remark above further reinforces my line of thinking.
Then again, even if Apple is developing premium Apple Intelligence plans, don’t expect Cook to confirm anything years in advance. Some rumors say paid Apple Intelligence features will come in 2027 at the earliest.
As for the more distant future, if Apple can ship a multi-device Apple-Intelligence-first operating system similar to the movie Her, that operating system might be worth paying a subscription.
Speaking of a more distant future of AI, Cook also addressed AGI questions. That’s the advanced general intelligence holy grail that OpenAI and others are trying to achieve. AGI will be able to reason and approach any problem as a human would, though it’ll have a far vaster knowledge database.
The CEO suggested AGI isn’t necessarily a priority for Apple, but the company is certainly looking at where the future might lead. For now, AI is “good enough where we can deliver it to people and change their lives, and that’s what we’re focused on.”