Apple Claws Back iOS 27 AI Camera Limits — And The New Caps Are Absurd
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From the moment Apple unveiled its next generation of AI features in iOS 27 at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, the company has made it clear that it would be setting some limits on those features requiring “powerful server models.” However, the company remained somewhat evasive as to what those limits would be and where those lines would be drawn.
During the WWDC keynote, Apple’s software chief, Craig Federighi, only said that “some features, including image generation, would have daily usage limits” that would be tied to iCloud+ subscription plan tiers.
At the time, he also specifically indicated that the new Apple Intelligence-powered HomeKit Secure Video capabilities would be gated behind higher iCloud+ tiers.
Some features, including image generation, have daily usage limits because they rely on powerful server models. Increased access is available with most iCloud+ subscription plans, which also include Apple Intelligence support for compatible home cameras.
Craig Federighi
Throughout most of the iOS 27 beta cycle, those limits remained vague at best. It wasn’t until early August that we got the first hint of how Apple was going to charge for this feature, when the limits began to appear in the fifth beta; I maxed out an iCloud+ plan just to see what the tiers looked like (for science), and it didn’t seem to be too bad. Back then, Apple was offering support for five cameras with the $9.99 monthly 2 TB plan, which could be doubled to ten if you stacked that with an Apple One Premier plan. The $29.99 6 TB plan offered 10 cameras, and the $59.99 12 TB plan provided support for 25 — each of which could be stacked on top of the 5 that would be included with Apple One Premier.
Those AI limits were still lower than the standard HomeKit Secure Video camera limits, which offer recording from a single camera on even the cheapest $0.99 plan (50 GB), five cameras for $2.99 (200 GB), and unlimited cameras for $9.99 (2 TB). The more restrictive AI limits were annoying, but not horribly so.
Sadly, we can now write this off as a lesson in not reading too much into what happens during the beta cycle, as the reality is much, much more disappointing.
Apple’s Much Harder Caps
To be clear, Apple never committed to any real numbers. The August limits were simply discovered by playing with the betas, and it’s unreasonable to hold Apple to what it does with a piece of test software that’s not supposed to be considered anywhere near final.
Apple also rarely published official support documents for new features during the beta cycle; built-in links go to dead pages on Apple’s website, waiting for the actual support articles to be filled in at those URLs once things are finalized.
Now that iOS 27 has been released to the public, that day has come, and a new Apple Intelligence Usage Limits article lays out the bad news for HomeKit users:
Some Apple Intelligence features in the Home app, such as video summaries, are available for a limited number of cameras depending on your iCloud+ plan — up to 1 camera in the 2 TB plan, up to 2 cameras in the 6 TB plan, and up to 5 cameras in the 12 TB plan.
I’ve confirmed this has gone into effect, and Apple hasn’t even gotten the grammar right, as it’s telling me that “Your iCloud+ plan includes video summaries for one cameras.”
The only very tiny silver lining is that Apple doesn’t seem to make you choose a single camera permanently. As I observed during the beta, you can toggle on as many cameras as your limit allows, but you’ll have to turn Apple Intelligence off for some if you want to enable it for others. Summaries are also only generated for cameras that are enabled while they’re switched on. You can’t game the system here, but at least you can prioritize the cameras you want to use during certain periods, perhaps activating a different set when you go on vacation, for example.
It’s also worth adding that Apple no longer stacks camera limits by adding extra iCloud+ storage to Apple One Premier. While you’ll still get 4 TB of storage if you have Apple One Premier and pay another $9.99 per month for an extra 2 TB, that doesn’t allow for more than one camera, since Apple sets the two-camera threshold at the 6 TB level.
Not all hope is lost, since Apple could change these limits at any time, and it even points that out in its support document:
Supported camera counts and other iCloud+ plan features may change over time.
It’s hard to imagine them getting any worse, so hopefully Apple is just starting low to test the waters as it scales up its back-end infrastructure, and these limits will begin making more sense soon.
After all, Apple’s limits are patently absurd when compared to what more established competitors like Amazon and Google already offer — $10 to $20 per month for unlimited cameras, with the higher-priced plans offering other enhancements like continuous video recording and professional hazard monitoring. Meanwhile, Apple expects users to shell out $59.99 a month just to get basic AI descriptions for five?
