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Why are Apple One subscribers having to pay more and others keep getting Apple TV + for free in various offers?

L

ledzep1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 24, 2016
283
100
Hi

As title Im an apple one family subscriber and I keep getting offers available to me after purchasing qualifying devices from various places. I purchased a MacBook 14 a while back and a product from a local shop of mine that qualified for free Apple TV + for a number of months.

Now due to having apple one sub, I can't make use of such offers, instead we are hit with an increase in sub cost.

Meanwhile every other Tom Dick and Harry are getting Apple TV + free all the time from various other companies.

Why the heck can't Apple implement something into the apple one sub where we can redeem these offers?

Obviously I can cancel apple one but I don't want to have to do that, due to all the other services included in the sub.
 
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As you said, our Apple One subscription includes other services. Apple is giving a taste of their services to attract new customers. Businesses commonly do this. But instead of feeling cheated, reframe it like this–you're paying for a service you like. What offers are extended to other people doesn't affect you at all.
 
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chabig said:
As you said, our Apple One subscription includes other services. Apple is giving a taste of their services to attract new customers. Businesses commonly do this. But instead of feeling cheated, reframe it like this–you're paying for a service you like. What offers are extended to other people doesn't affect you at all.
Click to expand...

Yeah I see your point, and I haven't worked out the price differences, but it just annoys me slightly when I purchase qualifying items that come with say 6 months free of Apple TV + yet I can't redeem it because I sub to apple one.
 
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I agree. Remember though, that the free offer is time limited. The only way around it is to reframe your annoyance. Another reframe–suppose you're eating at a restaurant and the restaurant is giving away free samples to passers by. Are you annoyed because someone else is getting a taste while you're getting a meal?
 
The terms show its “Only one offer per Family, regardless of number of devices purchased” - so not quite the boon you’re imagining.
 
I’ve had that beef with things like my satellite internet provider and DirecTV. Why should a loyal customer of 25+ years get zero perks/benefits? In fact, I’ve contacted them about it in the past, and been given temporary discounts and credits on my monthly bill. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to ask.

But as far as Apple is concerned, I recently bought a new pair of Airpods. They were on sale at Target for $89, and included 4 months of Apple Music free. Can’t really beat $49 for a brand new pair of Airpods (after considering the cost for the Apple Music). I had just cancelled Apple Music a month prior because I can never decide if it’s really worth it for me. It was a nice perk to get a few months of it with the Airpods.
 
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chabig said:
I agree. Remember though, that the free offer is time limited. The only way around it is to reframe your annoyance. Another reframe–suppose you're eating at a restaurant and the restaurant is giving away free samples to passers by. Are you annoyed because someone else is getting a taste while you're getting a meal?
Click to expand...

The thing is I’ve read people have had free Apple TV+ for years due to offers be it from a device purchased or a company they use offering it, like a phone company.

If I buy a new apple device and it says you qualify for free Apple TV + I should be able to get it I feel, even if I have an active apple one sub.
 
ledzep1 said:
The thing is I’ve read people have had free Apple TV+ for years due to offers be it from a device purchased or a company they use offering it, like a phone company.
Click to expand...
It doesn't work that way any more. You only get one free offer per family. See post #5.
ledzep1 said:
If I buy a new apple device and it says you qualify for free Apple TV + I should be able to get it I feel, even if I have an active apple one sub.
Click to expand...
I just spoke with Tim, and he agreed to give you three free months of AppleTV+ on top of your active subscription. It's active now. ;-)
 
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I actually got rid of my One subscription after they raised the price and have individual Music & iCloud subscriptions now. I only save a couple dollars but I’m tired of getting trapped into these bundling schemes from companies for “just a few dollars more you could have it all”. Apple Arcade and TV are nowhere close to the extra money I would be paying a month…yes Apple, those two services alone are not worth $2 combined to me ha.
 
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I had 18 months of free Apple TV+. So I’m ok with not being able to get anymore promotional offers when I purchase new Apple devices.
 
Shanghaichica said:
I had 18 months of free Apple TV+. So I’m ok with not being able to get anymore promotional offers when I purchase new Apple devices.
Click to expand...
Ditto, however my Satellite provider just gave away 6 months Apple TV+ and it was valid for new or existing subscribers. I don't have to pay again until the end of June 2023.
 
This is comparing two different things - I know it was discussed recently but I'm one of those who utilizes the Apple One subscription and doesn't really see it as a negative thing.

My family and I use Music, Fitness, iCloud heavily, and Apple TV. We actually had Apple TV refunded to us for quite some time (not sure when it stopped) because of new devices that we bought. But now, if I were to pay for all of those services separately it would be more than what I'm paying for now... not to mention that several people in my family also benefit from the subscription (spouse, mother in law, etc).
 
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Sheepish-Lord said:
I actually got rid of my One subscription after they raised the price and have individual Music & iCloud subscriptions now. I only save a couple dollars but I’m tired of getting trapped into these bundling schemes from companies for “just a few dollars more you could have it all”. Apple Arcade and TV are nowhere close to the extra money I would be paying a month…yes Apple, those two services alone are not worth $2 combined to me ha.
Click to expand...
Well, if you do want to add either of those services, there are so many ways to get TV+ free trials. I haven't been on the lookout for Arcade free trials, but I suspect there are equally as many ways to get a trial as TV+.
 
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Abazigal said:
A lot of free TV+ offers I am seeing tend to apply only to first-time subscribers, so I don't really qualify for those promos these days.
Click to expand...
In my experience, I've found that these free trials are available as long as you're not a current subscriber. Whether you've used a free trial in the past doesn't preclude you from using another one. The exception may be the free trials that come with the purchase of a new Apple device.
 
Seems like easier to get free months of something you haven’t had a subscription of.
I’ve got a lot of extra months of TV+ over the years, but I have never subscribed to it.
Music I’ve had a subscription to for some to some time, not really for any music, but for talks 95% actually.
I can never add anything extra to that when I’ve bought something that would qualify for extra 6 months. Nothing at all.

So I enjoy the time I get TV+ in rotation totally shamelessly, as I pay every month for music and never get anything extra when I buy qualifying products for that.
 
I also want Apple One to represent the ultimate in value. To that end, Apple should:
  • Offer a discounted annual pricing option, such as $169.95/year for $16.95/month Apple One Individual.
  • Pay with Apple Card for double the Cash Back, 6% instead of 3%.
  • With some carriers, you can get Google One 2TB + Unlimited Photos plan. I would love Apple One Premier with a similar perk.
 
I find the top tier Premier bundle completely worth the money.

Without any of the other bits and pieces, three of us have combined our previous individual music subscriptions into Apple Music with Apple One. We were spending $33 per month each previously.

We all use Apple News+ to receive premium publications and magazines. Two of us regular use Apple Arcade. We combined all our individuals iCloud+ storage plans into one 2TB plan and use about 1.2TB of it. We all dip into Apple TV+ regularly. We're all using custom email domains to share our family email domain name and it functions super-well for us.

The only thing none of us currently use is Fitness+ but I'm working to change that. :) I'm on a mission to rinse every cent of value out of Apple One Premier that I can.
 
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chabig said:
It doesn't work that way any more. You only get one free offer per family. See post #5.
Click to expand...
Then how are others doing it then? I hear people who have ATV+ for free for years and years on end. Are they just creating a new Apple ID to redeem those freebies?

chabig said:
As you said, our Apple One subscription includes other services. Apple is giving a taste of their services to attract new customers. Businesses commonly do this. But instead of feeling cheated, reframe it like this–you're paying for a service you like. What offers are extended to other people doesn't affect you at all.
Click to expand...
In the ss (streaming services) realm, this too is common. Off the top of my head, Paramount+ promo codes are only good for new subs. HBO Max had a 40% off annual plans sale that ended last Oct., but it was only good for new and returning subs (so if you've been with them before but cancelled your sub, you could at least get in on this). You can always just create a new email address, but it feels asinine. Especially if you're not allowed to use the same payment.
 
I totally agree!

oh

how does one check which date their Apple+ is due/
since the funds are taken from my iCloud account (not a bank), I can't find the due date.
thanks in advance!
 
ssledoux said:
I’ve had that beef with things like my satellite internet provider and DirecTV. Why should a loyal customer of 25+ years get zero perks/benefits? In fact, I’ve contacted them about it in the past, and been given temporary discounts and credits on my monthly bill. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to ask.

But as far as Apple is concerned, I recently bought a new pair of Airpods. They were on sale at Target for $89, and included 4 months of Apple Music free. Can’t really beat $49 for a brand new pair of Airpods (after considering the cost for the Apple Music). I had just cancelled Apple Music a month prior because I can never decide if it’s really worth it for me. It was a nice perk to get a few months of it with the Airpods.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this is the sort of thing you need to go out of your way to ask, as they're leaving $$ on the table if it were just automatic. Many ss (streaming services) want retention. I'm wondering if they (Hulu, Paramount+, Netflix, etc.) could stand to give a 5% discount for those that been around awhile (say, for 1.5 years).

Admittedly, even though I never went beyond my free trials of ATV+ and AA, they were nice to try out. What "helps" is my 9th gen iPad is a glorified gaming device, but I ended up getting a Switch anyways, so much of my gaming time will be there (at least for the foreseeable future). 64 GB iPad also "helped" seal the deal (although in hindsight, that ended up being the right choice since I won't continue with AA).

Sheepish-Lord said:
I actually got rid of my One subscription after they raised the price and have individual Music & iCloud subscriptions now. I only save a couple dollars but I’m tired of getting trapped into these bundling schemes from companies for “just a few dollars more you could have it all”. Apple Arcade and TV are nowhere close to the extra money I would be paying a month…yes Apple, those two services alone are not worth $2 combined to me ha.
Click to expand...
For ss, I rotate them since even though I could afford multiple ones at the same time, I could still stand to save the $$, and time's really the bottleneck these days. Any one major ss has plenty of content for me to view for months on end.
 
I am personally okay with Apple One not getting promos. Apple seems to be restricting existing users from redeeming most of these offers, although some workarounds might work (e.g., using a family member's account to redeem a promo).

But I do think Apple One needs to offer additional benefits.

For instance, Google has Google One 2TB + Unlimited Photos plan, which is only offered through a select wireless carriers. Apple One Premier offering 2TB storage and unlimited iCloud Photo Library would be one heck of a package.
 
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