iCloud+: Apple plans surcharges for heavy AI users
With Siri AI, the use of AI on Apple hardware will increase. It was already known that iCloud+ customers will be allowed to use it. But it doesn't stop there.
iCloud: The Plus variant could increasingly become an AI service in the future.
(Image: Apple)
Apple plans to charge more from people who want to use the new AI services within Siri AI particularly intensively. Company CEO Tim Cook made corresponding hints when announcing the latest quarterly figures on Friday night. It was already known and documented by Apple that subscribers to iCloud+, who receive more storage and access to services such as Hide My Email and HomeKit Secure Video, among other things, also get a larger AI quota. But apparently, it doesn't stop there.
Siri AI needs more computing power
Cook explicitly spoke of “upgrade options with iCloud+” through which customers could expand their iCloud+ package. In practice, this would mean that Apple is planning additional offers. However, the company currently has no “complete plan” for this, Cook said. It is not yet possible to say what costs for compute – i.e. AI inference – will be incurred, “because it is still early days for us”. It is also unclear how customers would accept such an offer. “We will see what the uptake will be.”
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Siri AI consists of several parts. The AI system is now a real chatbot with its own app, which can be queried as one is used to from ChatGPT or Claude. In addition, there are new, significantly improved generation capabilities for images (videos not yet). For example, completely new photorealistic recordings can be created, which goes beyond the known Image Playground. Within the Photos app, new forms of image editing are also possible. Images can be expanded with content or even the perspective of images can be changed, for example, in which direction a person is looking. All of this is likely to put additional strain on Apple's servers (or those that have been purchased from Google). Although Apple tries to perform as many parts of the AI processing as possible locally, the additional service business is attractive. So far, Apple has not provided any information on what higher limits iCloud+ users will receive by default.
Services business weakens slightly
Apple's Services segment had jumped to 30 billion US dollars in revenue last quarter, but analysts had expected around one billion dollars more. The reasons given are primarily changes in the App Store business model – forced by regulators – as well as lower demand for mobile games.
Currently, Apple is trying to save its high commissions in the App Store by requiring remuneration for so-called link-outs, i.e. payment links in apps to other providers. However, in some countries, this has not been implemented due to judicial or state intervention. In the USA, the case is now going to the Supreme Court, the country's highest court. According to its own statements, Apple now has a total of 1.5 billion customers using paid subscriptions.
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