Apple TV Plus, Apple One subscriptions get costlier: New prices

Apple on Wednesday increased the prices of Apple TV Plus, Apple One, Apple Arcade, and Apple News Plus subscriptions. Other services, such as the popular Apple Music streaming service, iCloud Plus, and Fitness Plus, will continue to be available at the existing prices in the US. The hike in prices is rolling out in the US and select international markets, with no price hike for the users of Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, and Apple One in India — for now.

The tech giant increased the price of Apple TV Plus to $9.99 per month, up from the previous $6.99. With the monthly price adjustments, the annual subscription option for Apple TV Plus has increased from $69 per year to $99 per year. Apple’s gaming service Arcade’s price has gone up from $4.99 to $6.99, and the News+ monthly price has been increased to $12.99.

The Apple One Individual bundle is now priced at $19.95/month, Apple One Family costs $25.95/month, and Premier costs $37.95/month. These tiers were previously available at $16.95, $22.95, and $32.95, respectively, in the US.

“Existing subscribers will see these price increases 30 days later, on their next renewal date. We are focused on delivering the best experiences possible for our customers by consistently adding high-quality entertainment, content, and innovative features to our services,” Apple said in a statement.

Last year, Apple increased the prices of its services, including Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and Apple One, subscriptions. That could be one of the reasons why the price of Apple Music subscriptions remains unchanged. Apple did not really say what caused the hike in the subscription of Apple TV Plus, but it could be due to the increase in competition, the aftermath of the strike by the Writers Guild of America, and the economic conditions — at least in the US and some other markets.

Since launching four years ago, Apple TV Plus has made history for streaming services by crossing major milestones in a short span of time. Some of Apple TV Plus’ original programmes have won Academy Awards, making it a compelling option for viewers.

Apple Arcade continues to offer players unlimited access to hundreds of incredibly fun games — nearly tripling the titles available when the service first debuted in 2019 — with exciting new games and updates added monthly.

Since launching, Apple News Plus has added more than 100 top newspapers and magazines including a total of over 450 publications, a catalogue of narrated audio articles from News Plus publishers, local news collections in over 20 cities and regions, and a daily crossword and mini crossword puzzle. Apple News Plus, as well as Fitness Plus, are not available in India.

— Written with inputs from IANS