Apple Intelligence Home camera features require a 2TB iCloud+ subscription

One of the things tucked away in the small print of macOS 27 beta 3 is the news that you’ll need a 2TB iCloud+ subscription in order to use the new AI features for home security cameras in the Apple Home app. While some are suggesting that we shouldn’t be too surprised by this, I do find it a somewhat disappointing move by Apple …

Macworld The OS 27 updates (iOS, macOS, iPadOS, etc) offers some really nice AI-powered updates for the Home app. Almost all of them center around video with cameras that support HomeKit Secure Video. The good news is, these features really elevate the experience of using these cameras, where was falling far behind competitors. The bad news is, it’s going to cost you: You need the 2TB paid iCloud+ plan to use them. Apple revealed the requirement in the release notes for developers for macOS 27 beta 3, though it applies to using the AI features with iOS or iPadOS as well. If you enable Apple Intelligence in the Home app, you need a 2TB iCloud+ subscription. Apple The new AI features for Home include the ability to combine activity from multiple cameras into a single action. If a person or event is captured by more than one camera, it can be combined into a single described event, with one continuous video to scrub through. Camera activity is analyzed and given plain language descriptions, and multiple similar notifications for the same event, even across multiple devices, are combined into a single updating notification. That should really help cut down on Home notification spam for those with lots of supported devices. In addition to the AI features, the update to OS 27 allows HomeKit Secure Video cameras to record up to 4K. The previous limit was 1080p, so this is a big upgrade. Apple is rumored to be working on its own security camera and video doorbell, which could arrive as early as this fall. We should note that you have always needed an iCloud+ subscription in order to use HomeKit Secure Video. Apple requires the base 50GB ($0.99 per month) plan to add a single security camera. If you have the 200GB ($2.99 per month) plan, you can add up to five. With the 2TB ($9.99 per month) plan, you can add an unlimited number of cameras, the tier required to enable Apple Intelligence features. This makes sense, and is in line with competitors: Nearly all home security cameras with AI features require some sort of paid monthly subscription, usually around this same price ($10 a month), to enable the AI features. Apple iCloud+ storage is included with all Apple One plans, too. The Individual plan gives you the 50GB, the Family plan gives you 200GB, and Premier comes with 2TB of storage.

The latest macOS 27 beta reveals that Apple’s AI-powered Home camera summaries won’t be available unless you subscribe to the 2TB iCloud+ plan. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Using Apple Intelligence camera features in the Home app will require an iCloud+ plan starting at 2TB, according to Apple. Apple shared the detail in its notes for the third macOS Golden Gate beta that was released today. In iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate, the Home app is able to generate written summaries for motion alerts from HomeKit Secure Video cameras. It's also able to group footage from separate cameras for an overview of activity and pull out noteworthy recordings, plus it supports natural language search. Apple said at WWDC that some ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features would require an ‌iCloud‌+ plan, but Apple didn't specify which tier users would need to subscribe to. For the Home features, users will need the 2TB ‌iCloud‌+ plan or better. The 2TB plan includes 2TB of ‌iCloud‌ storage and it costs $9.99 per month. ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ cloud storage has always required a paid ‌iCloud‌ plan. The 50GB plan allows for one camera, while the 200GB plan supports up to five. The 2TB plan lets users add an unlimited number of ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ cameras, and now it will also add the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ Home feature set. HomeKit video storage does not count against the storage limit of an ‌iCloud‌+ plan, so the full 2TB stays available for photos and other data. More on what's new in the Home app in ‌iOS 27‌, ‌iPadOS 27‌, and macOS 27 can be found in our guide.Related Roundups: iOS 27, iPadOS 27Tag: Apple IntelligenceThis article, "Apple Intelligence Home Features Require 2TB iCloud+ Plan in iOS 27" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums