Are you curious about the new Apple One subscription features? It combines Apple Music with other services.
Apple is hoping to build customer loyalty through a combined subscription strategy, essentially mirroring Amazon’s approach with its Prime subscription plans. But is there enough value in the Apple One subscription bundle? That depends on how many Apple services you already use or plan to use.
Apple debuted its Apple One subscription with three tiers of service – Individual, Family, and Premier.
The Individual plan starts at $14.95/month and gives access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud storage. If you already subscribe to Apple Music and pay for extra iCloud storage, this is an attractive upgrade.
The Family Plan includes the same access, but with an additional 200GB of iCloud storage for $19.95/month. Finally, the Premier plan grants access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and 2TB of iCloud storage for $29.95/month.
The Apple One subscription features savings for anyone who uses multiple Apple features. How much you save depends on how many services you plan to use. The Individual plan works out to about $6 a month in savings compared to the individual subscriptions. Family Plan subscribers save around $8 a month, while the Premier plan offers $25 a month in savings.
All Apple One purchases come with a 30-day free trial for new apps. Customers will be charged for all services included in the bundle. Apple One will be available in 100 countries starting this fall. Tim Cook has reconfirmed Apple’s commitment to growing its service division by bundling services.
It’s a strategy that worked out well for Amazon with its Prime service. Amazon Prime members pay $119 a year for two-day shipping, Prime Videos, and limited Amazon Music access. Prime members who upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited can do so at a discounted rate.
By bundling Apple Music with Apple TV+, Apple brings those services closer together.
Including iCloud storage in all three tiers also makes it more attractive for iOS/Mac users. Apple Music for Android users will need an iOS/Mac device to sign up for their Apple One subscription. The irony in avoiding paying Google’s 30% fee on subscriptions is not missed, Apple.
Meanwhile, Spotify says the new Apple One subscription features put other music streaming services at a disadvantage. Both Spotify and Apple charge $10 a month for their music streaming services. But including Apple Music makes paying that fee more attractive to iOS users.
“We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple’s anti-competitive behavior which, if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect,” a Spotify spokesperson told Reuters.
Apple countered that statement by saying the Apple One bundle is aimed at existing Apple Music subscribers.