Apple has confirmed that the AI-powered camera features coming to the Home app in iOS 27 will require a $ 9.99-per-month iCloud+ subscription, specifically the 2TB tier.
The company disclosed the requirement in release notes accompanying the third beta of macOS Golden Gate, which shipped Monday.
For HomeKit users who have been managing home security cameras on a 50GB or 200GB iCloud plan, that monthly cost represents a significant jump.
The 50GB plan runs $0.99 per month and supports one HomeKit Secure Video camera. The 200GB plan at $2.99 per month covers up to five cameras. Neither plan will include the new Apple Intelligence features when iOS 27 ships this fall.
What the AI Features Actually Do
The Home app in iOS 27 uses Apple Intelligence to generate written summaries when a camera detects motion, so instead of scrubbing through footage to figure out what triggered an alert at 2 a.m., users get a plain-language description.
Recordings from multiple cameras can be grouped into a single activity overview, and the app supports natural language search, letting users type queries to locate specific footage rather than hunting through a timeline manually.
Apple announced at WWDC in June that certain Apple Intelligence capabilities would require a paid iCloud+ plan, but declined at the time to specify which tier.
The Home app features are now the first confirmed example of a feature locked to the $9.99 level, which costs $120 annually.
The Storage Question
One detail worth understanding: HomeKit Secure Video footage does not count against the iCloud storage limit, regardless of which plan a user holds.
Someone on the 2TB plan retains the full 2TB for photos, device backups, and files. The video storage runs separately. That has been Apple’s policy since HomeKit Secure Video launched, and iOS 27 does not change it.
The 2TB plan also removes the camera limit entirely. Users on lower tiers are capped at one or five cameras, while the 2TB tier supports an unlimited number of HomeKit Secure Video cameras alongside the new AI capabilities.
For households already running several cameras and close to the five-camera ceiling on a 200GB plan, the move to 2TB may feel more justified.
For someone with a single doorbell camera on the 50GB plan who wanted AI summaries, the price difference is roughly $108 per year.
