Apple HomeKit’s new AI video summaries cost $9.99/month for one camera — and up to $59.99/month for five. That’s not a typo. It’s the price of Apple Intelligence in your hallway, your porch, and your backyard, if you own an iPhone 15 Pro or later, a second-gen HomePod or Apple TV 4K, and are willing to pay for iCloud+ storage that scales like a subscription treadmill.
The feature launched globally with iOS 27 on Friday, October 11, 2026. No regional pricing exceptions were announced: $9.99, $29.99, and $59.99 are US dollar figures. In India, Apple has not disclosed local pricing. Only that the feature requires iCloud+ plans “available in your region.” No Indian rupee equivalents were provided in any source.
UK and EU prices were not mentioned at all. So for now, this is a US-dollar story with global rollout implications, and a steep ask for anyone already paying for cloud video storage. Before the update, HomeKit Secure Video worked on 50 GB ($0.99), 200 GB ($2.99), or 2 TB ($9.99) iCloud+ tiers.
Now, even one AI-enabled camera forces you onto the $9.99 2 TB plan. Same price as before, but now mandatory for the feature. Two cameras? You jump to $29.99/month for 6 TB.
Three to five? $59.99 for 12 TB. That’s $719.88 per year for full AI coverage across five cameras, more than many mid-tier security systems cost outright. And it’s optional. You won’t be auto-enrolled.
But you will need to manually opt in through the Home app, under Home Settings > Apple Intelligence. Then toggle it per camera. Face recognition, natural-language search, and grouped event summaries all ride on that same $9.99+ tier. Apple says supported cameras and iCloud+ features “may change over time.” Translation: expect price shifts, plan caps, or hardware exclusions down the line.
The feature works only with HomeKit Secure Video–certified cameras, not every third-party model, and certainly not legacy ones. A full list lives on Apple’s Smart Home Accessory site. No performance benchmarks, battery impact, or accuracy metrics were reported. Because no outlet tested it.
This is a policy and pricing announcement, not a review. What happens next? Users start weighing whether ‘Robert arriving with a fruit bowl’ is worth $720 a year. And Apple starts watching how many actually upgrade.
HTFiled by The Home Tech Desk
TVs, home appliances and the smart home: refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, purifiers, robot vacuums, the sets on the wall and the platforms that connect them. Launches, prices in the US and India, and what changed.
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