Apple Home’s latest security camera service comes with a monthly fee of up to $60.

With the launch of iOS 27 and tvOS 27, Apple Home is stepping up its game with some new AI features, but they come at a premium price. The introduction of Apple Intelligence for Home means you can now access AI-driven video summaries through HomeKit Secure Video. This feature provides concise text descriptions of what your compatible security cameras have captured, along with the corresponding video clips. Additionally, there’s a new video search function and the ability to combine footage from multiple cameras into a single clip, making it easier to monitor your home without sifting through endless recordings.

However, to unlock these features, you’ll need to subscribe to the 2TB iCloud Plus plan for $9.99 a month (or opt for the Apple One Premier subscription at $39.95 a month), and that covers just one camera. If you want to add Apple Intelligence to a second camera, you’ll have to upgrade to the 6TB plan for $29.99 a month. For up to five cameras, the cost skyrockets to $59.99 a month for the 12TB plan. There’s no information yet on whether you can add more than five cameras, but keep in mind that recordings from HomeKit-connected cameras don’t count against your storage limit.

This pricing feels steep. While the enhanced video features are impressive—I’ve been testing them in beta and found them quite useful—they don’t seem to warrant such a significant price increase. HomeKit Secure Video has always required a subscription, starting at a very reasonable $1 a month for the 50GB iCloud Plus plan, which includes footage from one camera, smart alerts, and facial recognition. As you add more cameras, the costs increase to $9.99 a month for 2TB (up to five cameras) and $29.99 a month for 6TB or more for unlimited cameras. The jump for Apple Intelligence features is substantial.

Currently, I pay $40 a month for Apple One Premier, which gives me 2TB of iCloud storage and supports HomeKit Secure Video for five cameras. With the new pricing structure, I can keep those benefits and gain Apple Intelligence for one camera. However, to enable it for all five, I’d need to fork out an extra $60 a month, totaling $720 a year, or $1,200 overall.

In comparison, Amazon’s Ring and Google Nest offer similar AI-powered features for around $20 a month, and both provide more functionality than Apple does at this point. While an iCloud Plus plan includes storage for photos, files, and device backups, and higher tiers may offer increased limits for Siri AI and other Apple Intelligence features, Apple hasn’t shared specifics on that yet.

On the bright side, the standard HomeKit Secure Video remains unchanged, and the latest software updates have brought performance enhancements that improve speed and reliability, along with support for 4K video resolution. The new features only apply if you’re interested in the Apple Intelligence capabilities. While these advancements are a notable upgrade for Apple Home, the value proposition at these prices leaves much to be desired.