Apple cuts some engineers' daily AI cap to $200 from $300

The caps did not arrive all at once. According to Bloomberg's reporting from people familiar with the matter, Apple lowered the daily AI usage limit for some engineers from $300 to $200 in October 2026, and it is planning further reductions for some engineering teams that could bring the ceiling to $100 a day. Employees outside engineering already sit at a $100 daily cap, and Apple plans to cut that to $25 for some teams.

The limits are paired with a push toward cheaper options. Some teams are being encouraged to use lower-cost AI models or local models that run on the device itself, though it is not clear which specific tools the caps apply to. Apple employees can use several AI services, including Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini.

That portfolio makes the cost picture more complex. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who follows Apple closely, said in late January 2026 that the company was leaning heavily on Anthropic's models for internal work. The new caps suggest Apple is now trying to manage that dependence at the level of individual daily budgets, with senior executives able to grant exceptions where higher spending is needed for the job.