"Apple is allowing iCloud+ users to raise the rate limit, but I think we’ll see a separate subscription at some point", Gurman said.
Siri AI can combine details from multiple services to handle advanced requests
Photo Credit: Apple
Apple previewed an upgraded version of Siri alongside the launch of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27 in the recently concluded WWDC 2026. The company showcased significant enhancements to Siri and released the Siri AI. This next-generation version of its virtual assistant, built on Apple Intelligence, is set to rival existing leading AI assistants like ChatGPT. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests that accessing full features of Siri may eventually require a paid subscription.
In the Q&A session of his weekly newsletter, Power On, Mark Gurman hinted that adoption of Siri AI could lead Apple to introduce fees for advanced features. Gurman says that Apple is still in the early stages of convincing customers that its AI technology is worth using, let alone worth paying for. However, he believes that things will improve enough over the next 12 months and that the service could become worth a fee.
He states that operating servers for AI-powered features such as Siri and Image Playground requires significant server resources and high costs. "I could see the following: the baseline features in Siri (things that existed prior to Siri AI, plus the on-device personal context features) will always be free with no rate limits", he said. "The more conversational, world knowledge and generative AI features will eventually get rate-limited and then require a fee, just like with ChatGPT", he added.
Gurman added that Apple is currently allowing iCloud+ subscribers to raise the rate limit, but he thinks the company will bring a separate subscription at some point for these advanced AI features.
Apple unveiled new Siri and Visual Intelligence capabilities with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27. They will be available to the public later this fall. The Siri AI assistant can take data from Messages, Mail, Photos, and other apps and take actions across supported applications. It is also designed to combine details from multiple services to handle advanced requests. The dedicated Siri app lets users start a new conversation from a single interface or continue previous ones.
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