Apple Starts Charging for Extra AI Use With $49.99 Usage Packs in Logic Pro

The packs are a one-time purchase and are available at launch only in Logic Pro, its professional music software, where users can buy them from a "Buy More Usage" option in the app's intelligence features settings, 9to5Mac reported on November 9. A single $49.99 pack is the only option. Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro and the iWork suite are expected to offer packs once the rest of Apple's Creator Studio updates arrive later this month.

The move matters because it sets out how Apple intends to pay for AI features that run on servers rather than on the device. Cloud inference has a running cost for every request, and a top-up model lets Apple keep base subscription prices unchanged while charging heavier users for more. Apple had previously said that charging for such features would come eventually.

Under the terms on Apple's support page, the extra usage is only drawn down after a user has hit the monthly limit included with their subscription. Unused credit rolls over from month to month and expires 12 months after purchase. The packs cannot be shared through Family Sharing and work only with the Apple Account signed in to iCloud when they were bought. "Intelligence usage packs are available as a one-time purchase," the support page says.

Creator Studio is Apple's subscription bundle of professional creative apps, launched this year as a challenge to Adobe. The AI tools inside it, such as image generation and slide creation, run on Apple's servers and come with a monthly allowance whose actual size depends on how complex each request is.

Apple has not said whether the packs will extend to other server-based features. 9to5Mac said it expects similar options to follow for Siri's AI features, Image Playground and editing tools in Photos.