Apple One Subscription Bundles Not As Good As They Sound, Here's Why
If the rumors are true, Apple will soon reveal several bundles for its various digital media subscriptions. These include Apple TV+, Music, Arcade, News+ and iCloud. Its offerings of late have not been showered with the usual amount of love that Apple hardware and operating systems receive. Perhaps, Apple is hoping to bring more people into the fold with lower priced combinations? However, the details are still quite vague and may change, and while they sound interesting, they probably won't be.
Apple TV+ is the company's video streaming service stocked with original content. It is less than one year old, having launched last November. Despite big names, such as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Jennifer Aniston, the response has been underwhelming. This is possibly due to the limited amount of content that's available, compared to other streaming services. In contrast, Apple Music is much more popular with subscriber numbers placing it second, only to Spotify. Apple News+ is another flagging service, after a strong initial interest in 2019, although this might be due to the free one-year trials expiring. It is a valuable service for some, but news is readily available elsewhere, and without a subscription. Finally, there's Apple Arcade. While this initially seemed like an exciting idea, and although there are plenty of games available, it feels like the service is starting to stagnate, possibly due to lower than expected subscribers.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple will soon announce a bundle including Apple TV+, CBS All Access, and Showtime, with the expected savings to be somewhere in the region of $2 to $5. Of course, this only reads as a bargain if the subscriber has an interest in content from all three services. Bundles may add the perception of value, but the true worth is dependent on whether there are enough videos of interest on two or more of the included services. Other bundles are being discussed, including several tiers that combine other Apple subscription services, starting with Apple TV+ and Apple Music, another adding Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and the top tier including more iCloud storage.
Until the full details are known, it is not really possible to identify the best value in dollars. However, basing the decision on the tiers rumored so far, a few educated guesses can be made and the base level video streaming bundle may be the best option. For those interested in CBS and Showtime, saving a few dollars and getting Apple TV+ in the mix, makes sense. Moving to the tiered bundles, those that already subscribe to Apple Music will likely find something to watch on Apple TV+, so another worthy bundle, except for all those who already subscribe to Spotify, as the bundle option is unlikely to offer enough savings to tempt users away from what is already seen by many as the better service and the best value in music streaming.
The next two tiers, including access to Apple Arcade and Apple News+, may not provide enough value overall. The total monthly bill is expected to be around $30 to $40 with this collection of services, but it only really adds ad-free news and games to the mix. The top level bundle is usually where the greatest savings are found and it is hoped that Apple will include a sizable amount of iCloud storage to make it worthwhile to consumers. Otherwise, Apple may find these bundles don't do much to help the company attract more users to its digital services.