Apple TV+ Price Increase Announced

[Steve01234]

the old cable problem - bundling things in like Sports that lots of folks completely don't care about or watch yet have to pay for anyway subsidizing those who do watch. Dump the sports crap off a basic plan as thats the big cost problem. if you want it go pay $15-$20/mo. ESPN is in the process of offering their own streaming, maybe finally they will offer 4K instead of crappy 720.

 

[211]

Keeping the annual subscription price the same?

This price increase is clearly aimed at people who subscribe for a few months, binge everything that's new, then cancel. Repeat.

This is definitely the reason. Cancel after a month is a selling point that you're not locked in, but I suspect a lot of people binge, cancel, repeat. They want you to go for the other options of yearly subscription as it would cost less but you're locked in for longer. Or upgrade to a package like Apple One where you get other services, so more value, and more likely to be locked in.

My family is on Apple One Premier. There was loss of access to it for a few days as I needed to change payment method, and they were desperate to have access again to everything in it: Music, tv+, Arcade, News+, Fitness+ and iCloud+. I found it to be a great deal, as it is nearly half price and at least one person uses something included in it

 

[tubedogg]

They are priming to re-introduce the $9.99 tier with ad's. This is how they all do it. raise prices and than offer a cheaper alternative with advertising. This is the streaming playbook.

I would be extremely surprised if they did this. They have held out all these years without a free (or paid) with advertising tier for Music, and that is literally the biggest selling point for Arcade. It doesn't seem likely to me they suddenly reverse course with TV.

As much as they have jumped the shark in various ways, and can't seem to walk 10 feet without throwing up an ad for one of their own services, I do still think they think of themselves as the anti-advertising company. I don't think they break that glass here.

 

[jz0309]

If it weren't included in my T-Mobile plan, I wouldn't pay for it, not worth it to me. And even with it getting "free", I rarely watch anything on ATV+

 

[Donkey Man]

The monthly price of Apple TV+ is increasing to $12.99 per month in the U.S., according to 9to5Mac's Benjamin Mayo.

Apple TV+ cost just $4.99 per month in the U.S. when it launched in 2019, but the price has now increased three times. The price went up to $6.99 per month in 2022, and then to $9.99 per month in 2023, and now the service costs $12.99 per month. The latest price increase applies to select other countries too.

An annual subscription to Apple TV+ will continue to cost $99 in the U.S., and Apple One bundle prices are not changing, the report said.

The new price is effective immediately for new Apple TV+ subscribers, but various free trial options remain available. For existing subscribers, the price increase will take effect 30 days after their next renewal date, the report said.

In a statement shared with 9to5Mac, Apple attempted to justify the price increase by noting that it has continued to expand its library of original content, and it touted the value of its Apple One plans with multiple Apple services.

Article Link: Apple TV+ Price Increase Announced

So what already had a terrible cost-benefit ratio is now even worse; good to know.

 

[TNman]

It is getting back to the days that you might as well subscribe to cable

its been that way for years

 

[npmacuser5]

We Americans have had the good fortune to have it all. Now we will need to make choices. Probably a good thing!

 

[subjonas]

I am sure 12 months commitments are next or 5 bucks extra for the "opportunity" to cancel monthly to give "users the most incredible choice" of what they need.

They all learned nothing from former years of pirating. I am surprised the music industry hasn't come up with a streaming service by each label yet

“Give it to me on my terms or I’ll steal it from you.” ?

 

[Lioness~]

Only streaming I subscribe to is Disney’s cheapest with ads for less than 1 $/month in my currency.
But I don’t even watch a lot of it - I don’t have the time.

Apple TV+ is ok - I look forward to see the next season of For All Mankind, Silo - Foundation was ok, but Severance I was bored of.

 

[Aslak3]

Unbelievable, Apple increasing their Prices 😱

I don’t subscribe to it - just a few month here and there an bing watch what I like.

Yup same. If they ever renew For All Manking (which was great, though the last season was the weakest), I’ll sub at the end then unsub the following month. 🤣

 

[contacos]

“Give it to me on my terms or I’ll steal it from you.” ?

Free market 😇

 

[Skb3735]

They better be careful, close to pricing themselves out

 

[frenchcamp49er]

$8.25 a month if paid annually, still a great deal. dumped Netflix awhile ago and dont miss it at all

 

[thadoggfather]

Due to tariffs on ... digital content, amirite? 🤡

Make it make sense.

There is a serious cost of living crisis but at the same time, IMO, companies are just absolutely fleecing their customers.

 

[CharlesShaw]

ATV+ is included for free with my T-Mobile plan, and since the article says the annual price is staying the same, I'm hopeful that means whatever deal T-Mobile has with Apple will continue.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

It is getting back to the days that you might as well subscribe to cable

Thats not going to happen. TV cable is $100 a month where I live, one month is an entire year of Apple TV. I have an HD antenna that we rarely use but it's there.

 

[Aslak3]

I don’t understand why Apple is doing Apple tv+

The only reason that I can possibly come up with is this:

That in the later years of the last decade, they thought that the vision product was going to launch

a) earlier than it did
b) for less money.

Given that watching tv and movies (and playing games) were going to be key parts of the experience, I assume that Apple thought that they needed to ensure that content specifically made for tv plus was available.

Hence Apple TV+.

See also: Apple Arcade.

Although they could’ve just thrown a tonne of money at Disney to produce content I guess.

If the above wasn’t the reason, I just don’t get it.

Tv and movies, whilst glamorous sounding, are a great way to lose money, as it’s such a hit driven business. An entire new show or movie can sink without a trace meaning that it’s an effective write off of a hundred million or so (see also: newspapers, the music industry and publishing).

Anyway. It seems weird that Apple are so penny pinching and parsimonious in their hardware supply chain and manufacturing, but are (presumably) splurging money around left right and centre on tv+.

And this price increase is way too much for what it offers.

When the next season of silo turns up I’ll wait until the last few shows and subscribe for a month and watch them all.

Then I’m off. Still scratching my head as to why tv+ even exits.

It is a vanity project for Tim. He has no real interest in technology, but being in the entertainment industry makes his life “fuller”.

 

[FasterQuieter]

$12.99 is nuts. I started doing the thing now where I just subscribe for the odd month for all these services. Not the end of the world, but very inconvenient. It would be nice to have everything available all the time for a reasonable price.

 

[subjonas]

Free market 😇

Is that what you think that means??

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yup same. If they ever renew For All Manking (which was great, though the last season was the weakest), I’ll sub at the end then unsub the following month. 🤣

They've completely killed my interest in FAMK by taking so long.

It's coming up on 2 years since the last season .. I honestly (truly) don't even remember what happened in the last season I watched, other than remembering a feeling of "the show has gone downhill".

Super short seasons and huge gaps between them.

Who likes this way modern TV shows are now?

 

[attila]

Too many streaming services and all have raised their prices. It's like having cable again.

This is why piracy has gone up in popularity.

 

[PhotonPandur]

ATV+, Netflix, Hulu, Prime Vid, HBO Max, Paramount...I'm rotating and subscribed to only 1/2 for each month. The day they pull a VPN pricing and make it $29.99 a mth or $99.99 a year, I will drop them all and watch shows elsewhere..

 

[chachawpi]

I've never actually paid for this. There have been so many 1-year, 6-month, 3-month etc promos between Apple and T-Mobile that I can keep the service active when there's something worth watching. I'm sure this is a loss leader for Apple.

 

[johannnn]

Severance was great.

But the catalog is quite weak compared to HBO / Disney / Netflix.
Due to subscription fatigue, I'm gonna cancel Apple TV+. Not worth $12.99.

 

[turbineseaplane]

What should be cancelled is "AppleTV+" itself.

Distribute the few good shows elsewhere.

There is nowhere near enough content to justify being its own standalone service.