Apple's Siri Gets Smarter, But Will It Cost You?

Apple's advanced Siri AI, previewed in the iOS 27 beta, is slated for a broader release this fall. In his final earnings call, outgoing CEO Tim Cook indicated that enhanced Siri capabilities might come with usage limits, suggesting users could pay for more compute power via iCloud+ subscriptions. This mirrors the model used by competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic, who offer tiered AI access.

Apple is reportedly investing heavily to bolster Siri's AI, even licensing technology from Google to improve its assistant. The company's hardware division, now led by John Ternus, faces challenges from an industry-wide RAM shortage, which has increased component costs. This has already prompted price adjustments for Macs and iPads, though iPhone prices remain unchanged for now.