Apple Intelligence is Apple's own artificial intelligence, which will be introduced in the upcoming iPhone 16 series. Earlier it was speculated that the iPhone 16 would come with Apple Intelligence, but later we were told that the feature will arrive in a later iOS 18.1 update in October.
Furthermore, a recent report has also found that Apple Intelligence will not be free. Some advanced features will be behind the paywall, but not immediately. It will take at least 3 years for Apple Intelligence to become premium and subscription-based. Apple is rumored to introduce paid Apple Intelligence features, potentially priced at $20 per month, but it's unlikely the company will start charging for these features anytime soon, with a possible time frame of at least three years before any paid services be implemented.
Boomberg's Mark Gurman has commented on recent rumors of paid Apple Intelligence features, confirming that while Apple plans to introduce paid features in the future, the timeline is longer than many expect and it won't happen immediately.
Apple Intelligence is a step to catch up in the race for AI. According to Gurman, Apple will likely build on the current Apple Intelligence features and introduce more sophisticated capabilities that they can then charge for. But he predicts it will take the company at least three years to develop features worthy of a premium price, and even that timeline may be too optimistic. For now, iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models can support the beta phase of iOS 18.1, which offers a handful of Apple Intelligence features. However, recently it has been speculated that with the upcoming iPhone 16 series, Apple will design the next iPhone SE to support these features.
However, there is still no prospect that we in the EU will get access to the Apple Intelligence functions for the time being, paid or not. Apple has announced that Apple Intelligence will not be rolled out in the EU due to the somewhat more restrictive legislation within the EU when it comes to processing user data.