Hours after its September keynote event, Apple has disclosed more information on Apple Intelligence terms and limits. The improved Apple Intelligence features, set to become available with the upcoming iOS 27 stable release, will not all be free. Some of its more advanced AI features will carry usage limits and require you to pay a fee for additional access.
Advanced Apple Intelligence Will Be Subject to Usage Limits
Earlier at WWDC26, Apple had only stated that some features like image generation would have usage limits. Now, a newly published support document gives more insight on the true nature of these limits.
Apple mentioned in its document that advanced "Apple Intelligence features rely on powerful server-side models and have usage limits to ensure a high-quality, reliable experience for everyone."
Some of the features that will have usage limits include:
- Siri AI
- Intelligent Photo Editing Tools including Clean Up, Extend, and Spatial Reframing
- Image Playground
- AFM 3 Cloud and AFM 3 Cloud Pro Models in Shortcuts
- Developer apps using Apple Foundation Models in Private Cloud Compute
According to Apple, usage limits will also not be uniform across features:
Limits may vary by feature, request complexity, system demand, system policies, and other factors.
— Apple
Apple has not specified what those exact usage limits will look like. However, it did confirm that once users hit the limit, they will either lose access to it or some functionalities will become limited.
Additionally, depending on your iCloud+ plan, Apple Intelligence features such as video summaries in the Home app will work for only a limited number of cameras. Here's how many cameras will support these Apple Intelligence features based on the iCloud+ plans:
- 2 TB plan - 1 camera
- 6 TB plan - up to 2 cameras
- 12 TB plan - up to 5 cameras
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Increased Apple Intelligence Access Will Carry a Fee
To regain access to these Apple Intelligence features, users will have two options:
- Wait until application usage limit resets
- Pay a fee for increased access
However, the Cupertino giant is yet to reveal how much users will have to pay to access these AI features after hitting the limit.
As usual, the Apple Intelligence Terms and Conditions will dictate the use of Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features. Apple also reserves the right to change which features are subject to usage limits.
Placing usage limitations on advanced AI features is not new. In fact, that's the norm for the industry that's always facing compute crunch. Nevertheless, these limits only reinforce the fact that Apple Intelligence features, like most advanced AI features, are far from being truly free.
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