The cost of an Apple TV Plus subscription has increased from $4.99 to $6.99 per month, marketing the first time that the Apple-owned streaming service has encountered a price increase. While some streaming services tend to provide a warning before a price increase arrives, Apple doesn’t appear to have this time and the higher price is already in effect for new subscribers.
Apple TV Plus first launched in 2019 albeit with a limited lineup of shows and movies compared to other streaming services. However, with a subscription costing $4.99 per month (or $49.99 when signed up to the annual plan) the price was pretty low. For those that purchased one of Apple’s hardware devices, it was also possible to get a one-year subscription for free.
Since then, Apple has downgraded the complimentary free subscription to three months and has now implemented its first-ever price increase. The cost of an Apple TV Plus subscription is now $6.99 per month with the change already reflected on the Apple TV+ website. For reference, Apple has not only increased the price of Apple TV Plus, but its Apple One plans as well – Apple One includes access to Apple TV Plus. While the Apple bundle plan prices previously started at $14.95 per month, they now start at $16.95 per month.
Regardless of whether signing up to just Apple TV Plus or the bundled Apple One plan, Apple still offers new customers the option to try before paying with a free trial. The standard Apple TV Plus free trial is seven days while those signing up to Apple One can try for one month before having to make the first monthly payment. With an increase to the monthly price, the annual plan has also increased in the same way. Previously, the annual plan was priced at $49.99 per year, resulting in two months free each year. Following the latest price increase, the same annual plan now costs $69.99 per year.
As for why this is happening, Apple TV Plus has now been around long enough that the content lineup has increased significantly and this seems to be the reason for the change. In a statement provided to multiple outlets, including 9to5 Mac, an Apple spokesperson explained how Apple TV Plus launched “at a very low price” and is now “home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers.” Put simply, Apple TV Plus now offers far more, so the cost has risen to reflect that expansion in content.
In reality, one price increase in three years is not that bad. Not to mention, at $6.99 per month, Apple TV Plus still remains a much cheaper option than many other streaming services. Of course, for homes that were already struggling to justify paying $5 per month for Apple TV, a subscription is likely to be even harder to justify at $7 per month.
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