Analysts Say Apple Intelligence AI Features Could Cost Up To $20 On iPhone

Apple isn’t just banking on its upcoming Apple Intelligence to spur hardware sales, it’s also hoping to monetize it as a service to bolster revenue once users are hooked. According to some analysts, the price Apple could charge for these new AI features is anywhere from $10 to $20 a month, with a possibility it gets rolled into the Apple One bundle.

Services have become an increasingly large part of the revenue Apple relies on, with CNBC reporting the company earned $24.2 billion in the third quarter alone. Therefore, it’s not too surprising it will try and figure out a way to monetize Apple Intelligence to keep this type of revenue growing.
The pricing the analysts are predicting might be a tough sell, though, as consumers are growing weary needing so many subscriptions that keep seeing price increases. It will be especially difficult to justify Apple Intelligence at $20 a month, when Apple One includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Arcade, iCloud+ and more for the same amount of money. Including it as part of Apple One would undoubtedly push up the price of the bundle, and risk driving off customers who enjoy the other services.

However, it's unlikely this monetization move comes anytime soon, or perhaps not at all if the planned rollout of this new feature is any indication. Apple is seemingly struggling to get Apple Intelligence up to a level where it can be released to a customer base that expects a polished product. The plan is for a piecemeal release, where more and more features get added in the months following the release of iOS 18 and iPad OS 18.

Apple Intelligence will be making its partial debut later this year, and it will be interesting to see the reception from users. This reception could set the tone for whether or not Apple Intelligence finds a way to become another slice of the service revenue pie for the company.