This year, the cost of everything from food to fuel to travel has skyrocketed. You can now add the prices of your Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscriptions to this list.
As reported on 9to5Mac, the company has quietly increased the price of an individual monthly subscription to Apple Music from €9.99/€9.99 to €10.99/€10.99 and Apple TV+ from €4.99/€9.99 to €6.99/€6.99. Apple Music Family plans will see a corresponding price increase from €14.99 / €14.99 to €16.99 / €16.99.
The price increases also extend to the company's Apple One plans, which bundle a number of services. These increased as follows:
- Individual: €14,95 / €14,95 per month to €16,95 / €16,95
- Family: €19.95 / €19.95 per month to €22.95 / €22.95
- Premier: €29.95 / €29.95 per month at €32.95 / €32.95
This is the first time that Apple has increased the prices of these subscription services in the United States and, according to the company, the increases are mainly due to the increase in Apple Music licensing costs and the expansion of the catalog of shows and movies. available on Apple TV+ since the service first launched in 2019.
An Apple spokesperson provided the following statement to TechRadar:
"Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One subscription prices will increase starting today. The move to Apple Music is due to rising licensing costs, and in turn, artists and songwriters will earn more for streaming their music." music. We also continue to add innovative features that make Apple Music the best listening experience in the world. We launched Apple TV+ at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies. Three years later, Apple TV+ offers a huge selection of award-winning shows , series, feature films, documentaries, and widely acclaimed kids and family entertainment from the world's most creative storytellers."
Analysis: Are Apple's now more expensive services still worth it?
Apple Music has been ranked among the best music streaming services for its incredible value. It has long offered lossless Hi-Res music for the same $9.99 / $10.99 price, as well as a wide selection of albums and tracks on Spatial Audio. Compare that to market leader Spotify, which currently only streams music in a lossy compressed format (although the company is finally set to launch a high-res Platinum tier priced at $19.99 per month, which is double the cost). of your current Premium plan without ads).
Even with the price hike to $10.99/€10.99, Apple Music is still great value for money compared to services like Tidal, which also offer lossless hi-res music streaming, but for $19. / €99 per month. After the price hike, Apple Music's closest competitor offering lossless hi-res streaming, plus Dolby Atmos music tracks, will be Amazon Music HD ($19.99/€9.99 per month), though this service lacks the Apple's elegant and well-organized interface. Music. Atmos Music Library.
When it comes to Apple TV+, just like with Apple Music and lossless/hi-res, your base subscription level gives you support for 4K and Dolby Vision HDR; there is no level of high quality that you have to pay more for. Compare that to Netflix, which charges you double for these features when you upgrade from its basic $9.99/$9.99 per month plan (which currently doesn't even offer HD streaming, though this will change in November when the company's basic no-ad plans ).
A price increase for Apple TV+ actually seems overdue: while its offerings were extremely limited at first, it now has plenty of high-quality original shows like Severance and Ted Lasso, as well as a great selection of documentaries and movies.
If you're an Apple One subscriber, the walks are even less strenuous. I currently have a Premier Apple One subscription, which gives me family access to the following Apple services: TV+, Music, Arcade, Fitness+, and News+. All of these are used almost daily, and considering it also comes with 2TB of iCloud storage for photos and other files, it's still a bargain even though it now costs an extra €3 every month.
While I hate parting with more money every month for anything, I can't say these price increases for Apple services are outrageous, especially for high-value Apple One plans. It may not help the company get new Apple Music or Apple TV+ subscribers, but I suspect most current subscribers probably won't cancel. I know I'm not.