Apple Locks iOS 27 Home AI Features Behind 2TB iCloud+ Subscription Paywall

Apple is hoping to deliver a far better AI experience with future OS and app updates, following its partnership with Google. When the company announced its new and improved Apple Intelligence at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, it noted that some features would require a subscription but didn’t offer many details at the time. We have a better idea of what users will have to pay for, however, after combing through the release notes for the latest beta of macOS 27.

Apple’s developer documentation page for the third beta of macOS 27 lists some of the changes coming to HomeKit, the company’s smart home framework. HomeKit Secure Video, which allows users to save footage from compatible camera systems to iCloud instead of using a camera manufacturer's cloud storage, is getting AI assistance.


With the updates, users will be able to search through video using natural language, see footage from separate cameras grouped together, and receive summaries of motion alerts. All of this happens either on device or using Apple’s private Cloud Compute infrastructure.

The beta release notes mention that users who want to take advantage of the full suite of new AI powered features will need to be subscribed to at least the 2TB storage tier of iCloud+, which currently costs $9.99 a month. It’ll be a nice perk for those who were already at this storage tier with several cameras, but for someone only using it with one camera it means having to paying each month just to access the AI features.

It’ll be interesting to see how many of its AI features Apple ends up charging for, and how eager users are to pay for them.