ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Apple will charge a $50 fee for AI tools with usage packs.
- Apple becomes the latest company to offer paid options for AI features.
- Unlike other paid AI features, Apple is offering a one-time fee instead of a subscription.
There are plenty of AI subscriptions out there, but Apple’s AI features are among the few still accessible by simply purchasing a device. Now, Apple is shifting its business model by offering a one-time $50 purchase option to grant server-based AI capacity in some apps, starting with Creator Studio apps.
Apple is introducing a one-time purchase option for AI Usage Packs via app updates to Creator Studio. If you want expanded access to AI features in Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, the iWork Suite, and Logic Pro, you’ll need to pay.
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The $50 fee applies to extra usage blocks and kicks in when you exceed predetermined limits in these apps. Instead of a recurring fee, Apple is hoping the one-time fee for intelligence usage packs will help the company offset some of the cost of AI. Users can buy a pack for Logic Pro now, and the other apps are expected to get it soon.
“Usage Packs may offer the option to prepay for the use of certain AI-based Services and represent the amount you have paid in advance for use of the respective Services,” according to Apple.
Apple’s one-time payment breaks away from what most companies are doing. Most companies offering AI tools try to offset the steep cost of running large language models (LLMs) by charging users for paid subscriptions. For example, Samsung is rumored to be planning such a subscription for Galaxy AI usage, including access to features that are currently free.
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The Creator Studio apps are the only ones getting the Usage Packs for now. The legal terms for intelligence Usage Packs explain that these packs would be available in “AI apps,” which include not only Final Cut Pro, Compressor, Logic Pro, MainStage, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, but also Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Freeform, and other apps.
How to check your usage
Some of the features for which you may be required to purchase Usage Packs once you exceed your limits include the generation of images, shapes, presentations, and presenter notes, as well as some assistant features. Usage limits reset each month.
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You can view your usage status for each of the applicable apps on your iPhone or iPad by tapping on More (or the button with three dots), then Intelligence Features, and Show Usage Status. On a Mac, it’s available by accessing Intelligence Features from the menu bar of the app you’re using, then clicking on Show Usage Status.
Intelligence usage packs expire after 12 months, but they roll over each month if left unused.
