Apple has confirmed that its new Apple Intelligence features for the Home app will require an iCloud+ subscription with at least 2TB of storage. The requirement was revealed in the release notes for the latest macOS 27 Golden Gate beta, providing the first confirmation of which iCloud+ tier users will need to access Apple’s new AI-powered Home experience.
The new features are centred around HomeKit Secure Video and are designed to make security footage far more useful and easier to understand. One of the biggest additions is intelligent event summaries. Instead of receiving a simple “Motion Detected” notification, Apple Intelligence can generate a written description of what actually happened. For example, it could tell you that a package was delivered, someone approached your front door, or a vehicle pulled onto your driveway.
Apple is also introducing natural language search for HomeKit Secure Video. Rather than manually scrubbing through recordings, users will be able to search for events using everyday language, such as “person carrying a parcel”, “black dog in the garden” or “red car yesterday afternoon”, making it much quicker to locate specific moments.
iCloud+ 2TB required for Apple Intelligence
Apple had previously said that some Apple Intelligence features would require an iCloud+ subscription, but it had not specified which storage tier would be needed. The latest beta confirms that these Home app features require the 2TB iCloud+ plan or higher.
HomeKit Secure Video has always required a paid iCloud+ subscription. The 50GB plan supports one HomeKit Secure Video camera, while the 200GB plan increases that to five cameras. The 2TB plan supports an unlimited number of HomeKit Secure Video cameras and will now also unlock the new Apple Intelligence feature set.
As before, HomeKit Secure Video recordings do not count towards a user’s iCloud storage allowance, meaning the full 2TB remains available for photos, device backups and other files.
