Apple plans to limit usage of some Siri AI features and offer paid expanded access, executives said during the company’s Q4 2026 earnings call. The company has not yet outlined prices or how paid access will be structured.
CFO Kevan Parekh said Apple is still assessing the costs of running Siri across on-device processing and its Private Cloud Compute servers. On-device inference is highly efficient and has no significant associated cost, he said, while server-side requests incur processing costs. Apple has only recently made Siri AI available to more users, so it is still evaluating demand and computing needs.
The limits are expected to apply to features that use Apple’s cloud models. Everyday requests handled on the device should remain free, while more demanding tasks could count toward a daily allowance. Examples include AI photo editing and Image Playground.
Apple’s release notes say daily limits may vary depending on the feature, the complexity of a request, system demand, policies and other factors. The notes also state that expanded access will be offered for a fee in the future. The company has not specified what that fee will be.
Siri AI uses a combination of on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute. Tasks that exceed an iPhone’s resources can be sent to Apple’s servers, which the company says are designed to handle personal data with a focus on privacy and security.
Sources: TechRadar.