iOS 27 AI Camera Summaries Cost $9.99 for One Camera

With the public release of iOS 27 and tvOS 27, Apple Home is getting an injection of Apple Intelligence – but you'll have to pay more for it. Apple Intelligence for Home brings AI-powered video summaries to HomeKit Secure Video, so you can get short text descriptions of who and what compatible security cameras saw, […]. Apple Apple Home’s new security camera features cost as much as $60 a month Apple Intelligence upgrades to HomeKit Secure Video come with a steep cost.

Apple Intelligence upgrades to HomeKit Secure Video come with a steep cost. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News. It also adds a new video search feature and the ability to stitch footage from multiple cameras into one clip, making it easier to keep an eye on what’s happening around your home without scrolling through footage.

AI-generated video summaries provide text descriptions of what a camera sees. But to get these features, you’ll need to pay $9.99 a month for the 2TB iCloud Plus plan (or $39.95 a month for an Apple One Premier subscription) — and that’s just for one camera. According to an Apple support page, to add Apple Intelligence to a second camera, you’ll have to pay $29.99 a month for the 6TB plan.

For up to five cameras, it’s a whopping $59.99 a month for the 12TB plan. No word on whether you can add more than five cameras. (Recordings from HomeKit-connected cameras don’t count toward your storage quota.) Related Apple’s smart home camera service is starting to impress me Why Apple’s next computer should be for the smart home Cameras get an Apple Intelligence boost in Apple Home That’s way too expensive.

Apple is requiring a $9.99 iCloud + plan to use the iOS 27 Apple Intelligence Home app features with a single HomeKit camera, and iPhone users aren't happy about it. ‌iOS 27‌ includes text-based descriptions for motion alerts, a feature that uses ‌Apple Intelligence‌.

It recognizes people, animals, vehicles, packages, and general motion, and summarizes what's happening. During the beta, we learned that a 2TB iCloud+ plan or higher would be needed to use video summaries, but at the time, Apple didn't say how many cameras would be supported.

Last week, Apple shared new details on ‌Apple Intelligence‌ limits, and it turns out the 2TB ‌iCloud‌+ plan priced at $9.99 per month will only add AI… You'll need the $29.99 per month 6TB plan to get AI summaries for two cameras, or the $59.99 per month 12TB plan if you want to add up to five cameras.

Apple One Premier subscribers are limited to a single camera since the bundle includes 2TB of ‌iCloud‌+ storage. Apple isn't offering an ‌iCloud‌+ plan that lets users receive AI summaries for an unlimited number of cameras.

Using HomeKit Secure Video cameras has always required a paid ‌iCloud‌+ plan, but the recording limits are at odds with the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ limits. You can use a single ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ camera with a $0.99 per month 50GB ‌iCloud‌+ plan, five cameras with the $2.99 per month 200GB plan, and unlimited cameras with the 2TB plan priced at $9.99 per month.

Someone who has a 2TB ‌iCloud‌+ plan and has invested in multiple ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ cameras will only be able to use the new ‌Apple Intelligence‌ feature with one of those cameras. There are dozens of complaints about the subscription requirements on Reddit and on the forums.

Apple warns that supported camera counts and other ‌iCloud‌+ plan features could change over time. There will also be usage limits on Siri AI, photo editing tools, and Image Playground, with paid options to increase access.

Apple hasn't announced pricing for features other than the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ Home app options. Reportedly Apple will launch its own home security cameras as soon as next year, with the company also working on a home security and monitoring service.

Apple's own home security cameras could require the ‌iCloud‌+ subscription for advanced AI features.

While the improved video features are useful — I’ve been testing them in beta and have been impressed — they’re not good enough to justify that big a price jump. HomeKit Secure Video has always been behind a paywall, but it started at a very reasonable $1 a month.

That’s for the 50GB iCloud Plus plan, which includes recorded footage from one camera, plus smart alerts and facial recognition. For more cameras, you bump up to 2TB / $9.99 a month (up to five), and 6TB / $29.99 a month or higher for unlimited cameras.

But the cost for the Apple Intelligence features is a huge increase. 1 / 4 Apple Intelligence requires the 2TB $9.99 a month plan, for more cameras you need to upgrade to 6TB or 12TB.

I currently pay $40 a month for Apple One Premier, which includes 2TB of iCloud storage and gets me HomeKit Secure Video support for five cameras. With the new pricing tier, I keep those benefits and now get Apple Intelligence on one camera.

But to get it on all five cameras, I’d need to pay an additional $60 a month. That’s $720 a year, for a total of $1,200.

Medical Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals for medical decisions and treatment options.