A recent blog post by a well-known figure in the tech industry hints that Apple may be planning to lock certain features of its recently announced Apple Intelligence behind a subscription service.

In his latest newsletter, Power On, Mark Garman speculates that Apple intends to make certain AI features and software a paid service over time. In this report, Garman states that "Apple Intelligence will be free at first, but the long-term plan is to make money on its features. While there is no inside information on what form this will take, Garman speculates that it could mimic the current iCloud subscriptions and require a monthly subscription fee. Alternatively, it could be part of the Apple One subscription pack.

The big advantage here for Apple is that, as Garman says, if it all comes together, "Apple could be in a strong position in a few years." The company would be able to actually make money from AI without having to rely on tweaking its hardware. The bigger question, however, will be whether this decision will convince customers to upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro series or the iPhone 16 series.

Apple Intelligence has a lot to offer users, including new intelligent writing aids and new image generation options. However, according to Apple, it requires at least 8 GB of RAM, which means that many people will not be able to access it due to the limited number of models available. The big question for subscription services will be which features will remain free and which will not. This is the hardest question for Apple to answer and could be a deciding factor for many users who are considering upgrading to the latest models.

Apple had rationalizations for limiting the number of devices that can run Apple Intelligence and adding more subscription services, which could leave a bad taste in many users' mouths. It should be noted, however, that this is all based on speculation, and we will not know for sure until Apple officially announces this decision.

In the meantime, you can take a look at the complete list of all Apple Intelligence features and the hub of the upcoming iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, which is likely the best way to use Apple's latest software innovation.