This is Apple putting a meter on its AI features. Creators paying for a subscription should expect more pay-as-you-go charges. Honestly, this whole “pay for usage” is a bit random. AI companies are setting a fixed dollar value on something that is quite arbitrary. Yes, usage and token consumption is measurable. But what it takes for an AI to get a particular task or project done depends on a variety of factors: the model, its training, how precise a prompt or series of commands is, and much, much more.
What one person well-versed in AI building or creation can do with a set amount of usage differs greatly from what someone spinning their wheels trying to figure it out can do. So a $50 usage pack or a $20/month AI subscription means very different things to different users and use cases.
This is true of all AI companies, not just Apple. The dollar value gets you down a path with many different routes. It may not get you to the end, though.