Asger Risom
During his final earnings call as Apple CEO, Tim Cook indicated that power users may need to buy higher iCloud+ subscription tiers to access extra compute power for the upcoming Siri AI upgrade.
In his final earnings call as Apple CEO, Tim Cook revealed that the company’s long-delayed Siri AI overhaul could include paid tiers for high-demand users, signaling a shift toward compute-based subscription models for Apple’s flagship assistant.
Speaking on Thursday, Cook outlined a strategy to monetize heavy usage by bundling extra compute power into existing iCloud+ subscription plans.
“We do believe there will be people that want to use [Siri AI] a lot, and so we will have some kind of upgrade possibilities on iCloud+, where people can buy up the stack on iCloud+, and we’ll see how the pickup for that is,” Cook stated, adding that the company remains optimistic about the technology’s trajectory.
The proposed monetization scheme aligns Apple with industry peers such as Anthropic and OpenAI, which both utilize tiered models offering basic access for free while reserving higher compute capacity for paying subscribers. Currently available in the iOS 27 beta, the revamped Siri AI is slated for a broader public rollout this fall.
Executive transition during an AI pivot
According to a TechCrunch report, Cook’s comments come at a major turning point for the company as John Ternus, Apple’s longtime Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, steps into the CEO role. Ternus takes charge following a difficult period for Apple’s artificial intelligence division, marked by development delays that previously forced Apple to pay a $250 million class-action settlement over its marketing of the iPhone 16’s AI capabilities.
To bridge the gap in its internal model capabilities, Apple took the unusual step of licensing a customized version of Google’s Gemini model to power core elements of the Siri upgrade.
Industry-wide supply pressures
The transition and software rollout arrive as the hardware sector faces significant supply-chain friction. A global shortage of RAM driven by intense demand for AI infrastructure has raised manufacturing costs across the consumer tech industry.
While competitors including Meta, Samsung, Microsoft, and Sony have raised device prices in response, Apple recently increased prices on Mac and iPad lines while leaving current iPhone pricing untouched—making cloud-based subscriptions like iCloud+ an increasingly vital lever for offsetting hardware cost pressures.
