Tim Cook: iCloud Plus to add paid AI upgrade tiers
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- Tim Cook said on Apple's Thursday earnings call that the company will add paid upgrade options within iCloud Plus, letting users "buy up the stack" for more AI capacity, because he expects people to use Apple Intelligence and the Siri AI "a lot."
- Apple Intelligence and the Siri AI, which launch broadly this fall with iOS 27, already carry daily usage limits because they rely on powerful server models, a constraint Apple publicly disclosed in June.
- The iOS 27 Siri AI can answer questions about on-screen content and take action across apps, and ships with a standalone Siri AI app that offers a ChatGPT-like interface.
- Apple noted in June that "increased access" to AI features is already available across most iCloud Plus plans, suggesting the new structure is a tier expansion rather than an entirely new paywall.
- Apple's services segment, which houses iCloud Plus along with Apple TV and Apple One, generated $30.74 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter.
- Apple has not yet announced pricing or specific tiers for the upgraded AI access, with Cook only saying "some kind of upgrade possibilities" are coming.
Why it matters: Apple's services arm is a $30.74 billion revenue engine, and gating heavier AI usage behind a paid iCloud Plus tier turns the cost of running "powerful server models" into a new subscription line. The move builds on existing tiered access already in iCloud Plus, so the immediate question for heavy users is how steep the premium markup will be on top of current plans.
