OpenAI's Potentially Massive iOS ChatGPT Upsell
Juli Clover
This seemingly small tweak in a second beta version of a third iOS iteration could have massive implications for both OpenAI and Apple (and Microsoft!):
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan.
Just yesterday before this new beta hit, I was recording a podcast (coming soon) where my buddy Mike asked me if I had noticed any kinds of usage limits or notices with the ChatGPT integration baked into the new iOS betas. I noted that while it was fairly shocking, I had not seen any indications that Apple was limiting the functionality – shocking because when this feature goes live next month, it's clearly going to cause a massive spike in usage of ChatGPT, and yet Apple is still apparently not paying for that usage after their reported investment in OpenAI – which made sense as a way to pay for ChatGPT usage, if nothing else – fell apart. It's an awkward situation made more awkward by the fact that ChatGPT is running on Microsoft's servers.
Well, here's the answer. For now, at least.
The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as "Under Limit" without a paid ChatGPT plan. Users have access to a small number of requests that use the most advanced ChatGPT capabilities, and requests are downgraded to a basic version of ChatGPT after that.
OpenAI has long restricted access to ChatGPT's most advanced feature set to a paid Plus plan, so accessing ChatGPT through Siri is subject to the same limitations.
There is an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus, which is priced at $19.99 per month. ChatGPT Plus provides 5x more messages on the newest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4o. It also allows for higher limits on photo and file uploads, image generation, and web browsing, as well as an option to converse with ChatGPT using advanced voice mode.
In other words, the iOS ChatGPT integration will work the same as ChatGPT does elsewhere: you can test out answers from the best models a small amount of times per day. After that, you're "downgraded" to a cheaper model unless you pay up for a "Plus" account. This makes sense and is in line with what Apple has been saying since WWDC – that users with ChatGPT accounts would be able to sign in. But the real unknown and big deal here is that Apple is indeed going to help OpenAI upsell those 'Plus' accounts in a meaningful way, with a giant upgrade screen complete with a nice big blue 'Subscribe' button.
Right now, this is all buried in Apple's own Settings app.1 The next big question is if Apple will pop-up the upsell once you hit your daily limit or if they'll make you go into Settings to do so? A pop-up and one-click upgrade would obviously be a massive win for OpenAI.
Right now, hitting 'Subscribe' opens a small web browser window so you can do all of this through the ChatGPT website. Presumably, that's at OpenAI's request, so they don't have to pay Apple a 20% commission on those sign-ups. But this may just be during the beta period. Given the aforementioned business model issues mentioned above, I wouldn't be shocked if Apple and OpenAI have some sort of agreement on the commission from sign-ups through Apple. And if that's the case, presumably OpenAI could use the Apple payment rails to ease such transactions... Again, that would be massive.2
Right now, the exact usage limits seem vague, but ChatGPT itself seems to have an answer for what they will be:
For free-tier users, the daily limit includes up to two image generations per day with DALL·E 3. Text-based interactions are also subject to restrictions, with a limited number of prompts allowed within a five-hour window. Upon reaching this limit, users are invited to continue their conversation using GPT-4o mini or to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus.
Please note that these limits are subject to change as OpenAI and Apple refine their services. For the most current information, refer to the official OpenAI Help Center.
1 In the 'Apple Intelligence' area called 'Extension' where 'ChatGPT' resides – which, unsurprisingly, implies that other 'Extensions' in the form of other AI services, are indeed coming...
2 Also, what if there's a way to upgrade simply using your voice to tell Siri you'd like to?