Soon after Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, I said the company’s new iPhone, iPad, and Mac AI suite should be free, even though I was (and still am) ready to pay for premium AI features. I was a ChatGPT Plus user then and I still am now.
Apple’s inability to deliver the smart Siri it promised in Apple Intelligence further reinforces my idea that Apple Intelligence should be free. After all, this is the feature that made Apple Intelligence stand out when compared with ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI products. Apple has a long way to go here.
The current state of Apple Intelligence is certainly not worth a subscription. You can’t charge for a product that doesn’t do much for the user right now. Even if Siri were ready to deliver the impressive features Apple promised us at WWDC 2024, Apple Intelligence would still be free. That’s apparently the plan for several years.
However, it turns out that many iPhone and non-iPhone users would be ready to pay a fee to access Apple Intelligence features. That’s according to a new survey that looked at Apple Intelligence reactions from iPhone users based on the current features available on iPhone 15 Pro models and the iPhone 16 lineup.
A Morgan Stanley survey seen by MacRumors asked thousands of US consumers to indicate how much money they would pay for Apple Intelligence.
The study was conducted in February and March when the smart Siri features in Apple Intelligence were expected to arrive in iOS 18.4. It was only in early March that we found out Apple’s exciting new Siri experience would see considerable delays.
About 1,400 respondents of the 3,300 people in the survey were iPhone users. Some 450 of them owned the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models that can run Apple Intelligence. The survey, shared in a research note to clients, says the sample represents the general population in the US in terms of age, gender, and region.
Here’s how much people would be ready to spend on Apple Intelligence per month:
- $15 or more per month: 22%
- $10 to $14.99 per month: 30%
- $5 to $9.99 per month: 17%
- Less than $5 per month: 11%
- Not willing to pay: 14%
- Don’t know/too early to tell: 6%
The research tells us that over 50% of American buyers would spend at least $10 on Apple Intelligence. Nearly 70% would spend at least $5 per month for Apple Intelligence. That’s surprising, but I’m saying that now that I know Apple Intelligence is a big letdown. That wasn’t clear when the survey was conducted.
I’ll also add that the survey happened before Trump announced the new tariffs that might impact the iPhone price in the US. If that iPhone cost goes up, I’d expect iPhone users to reconsider paying for Apple Intelligence.
On the other hand, ChatGPT Plus and Gemini Advanced cost $20/month. Some people might subscribe to more than one AI service, just like we do with streaming services. Each AI product might have strengths and weaknesses.
Adding an Apple Intelligence subscription of at least $10/month to your list of subscriptions might not be a big deal, but that’s assuming you get good value out of Apple’s proprietary AI.
On that note, I might have returned my iPhone 16 Pro Max once I realized the Apple Intelligence features I wanted will see further delays, but I’m still hopeful about the future of Apple Intelligence.
As a reminder, Apple Intelligence only became available in Europe in March, so I already waited enough for features that I didn’t even use. The current suite of Apple AI features isn’t good for me, but I do trust Apple to catch up to OpenAI and Google and turn AI into a staple iPhone feature that might one day be worth more than $10/month.
