Excited about the new Apple Intelligence features? Turns out, you should be an iCloud+ subscriber if you want to use them more often.
Want to Use Apple’s New AI Features More? You Need to Subscribe to a More Expensive Tier of iCloud+
Apple is doing a lot of great stuff in AI this year, and most of them require a ton of server-side compute power as well. This means there are daily usage limits to how many times you can do certain things, such as image generation, if you’re a free user.
In order to ensure fair usage, Apple says in its press release that iCloud+ subscribers will get slightly more usage limits, with support for additional features such as Apple Intelligence in compatible Home cameras.
Here’s what Apple has to say about it:
Some Apple Intelligence features, including image generation, have daily usage limits because they rely on powerful server models. Increased access is available with most iCloud+ subscription plans, which also include Apple Intelligence support for compatible Home cameras.
It’s obvious to assume that the cheapest iCloud+ plan is not going to help boost your usage limit – that’s the $0.99 plan with 50GB of storage. It’s highly likely that you will get all the benefits starting from the second tier of iCloud+, which costs $2.99 a month, and comes with 200GB of storage.
WWDC26 is still underway, and there are a lot of things that need clarification. Over time we will find out what is actually required for more usage limit, and what isn’t.
Quite honestly, most users don’t even need to subscribe to iCloud+ for extensive AI use. If you’re not generating images, or using advanced AI features right now using services like ChatGPT, you probably won’t do it when Apple rolls out the new features later this year for everyone.
