Apple announces Apple One subscription service that bundles Music, TV+, iCloud and more into a single payment
APPLE announced Tuesday that it’s bundling payments for iCloud, Apple Music and its other services into one simple plan. The shake-up will see users pay a single monthly fee for the US firm’s various apps rather than shelling out for each of them separately. Called Apple One, the service is launching later this year, Apple […]
APPLE announced Tuesday that it’s bundling payments for iCloud, Apple Music and its other services into one simple plan.
The shake-up will see users pay a single monthly fee for the US firm’s various apps rather than shelling out for each of them separately.
Called Apple One, the service is launching later this year, Apple announced during a virtual event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The bundle will cost £14.95 / $14.95 per month for an individual plan or £19.95 / $19.95 per month for a family plan and include television, music and games.
Apple is also offering a premier bundle for £29.95 / $29.95 per month that adds news, more iCloud storage and a new fitness service.
The plans are designed to make paying for Apple services cheaper and easier than buying each one individually.
“Apple One makes enjoying Apple subscription services easier than ever,” said Apple’s Eddy Cue.
“With Apple One, you can access the best of Apple entertainment across all your favorite devices with one simple subscription.”
As well as being more convenient for customers, the California firm hopes the packages will encourage users to subscribe to more Apple services.
Apple One’s individual package lumps together Spotify-rival Apple Music and Netflix-style app Apple TV+.
It also includes Apple Arcade, the firm’s video game subscription service, and 50GB of iCloud storage.
The family tier features the same apps but with 200GB of storage.
Premium lumps those same apps in with Apple News+, which lets you access magazines and paywalled content from some news sites.
The tier also hands you a whopping 2TB (that’s 2,000GB) of iCloud storage and Fitness+, a new Apple service also announced Tuesday that gives you personalised training videos.
Apple said the Individual plan saves you over £6 / $6 a month based on standard pricing of the apps, while the Family plan represents £8 / $8 per month in savings.
The Premier plan works out to a savings of over £25 / $25 per month.
Rumours hint Apple One will launch in early October, when the tech titan is expected to unveil its latest range of iPhones.
Tying together subscriptions is a tactic championed by rivals like Amazon with its Prime subscription service.
A £79-a-year Prime subscription gets customers free one-day delivery on shopping items, access to Amazon Prime Video, and more.
A move to a bundled subscription model may help Apple catch up to rival services built by the likes of Netflix and Spotify.
Apple has ploughed boatloads of cash into Apple Music and Apple TV+ but has not seen anywhere near the uptake of its biggest competitors.
Apple One was unveiled 15 during an online-only event streamed from Apple Park.
Tim Cook – Unrelenting Apple CEO who 'leaves staff in tears'
He's a ruthless businessman who rose from humble beginnings to become CEO of the world's most valuable company.
And now Apple boss Tim Cook, 59, is worth a reported $1billion less than a decade after he took over from cutthroat founder Steve Jobs.
Cook grew up in the small town of Robertsdale, Alabama.
His father Donald was a shipyard worker, while mother Geraldine was a homemaker.
Cook graduated with a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982.
As a student, he developed a system to improve the traffic lights near the college that was so successful it was adopted by the local police force.
This promising early start was followed by the astonishing success which saw Cook work at several tech giants before joining Apple in 1998.
The Alabaman is said to have received a personal invitation from Jobs to join the company.
Following Jobs’ tragic death in 2011, Cook was handed the reigns and has taken the company from strength to strength.
Like Jobs, he’s reported to rule with an iron fist, sometimes leaving staff “in tears” following meetings, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Staff refer to Cook’s Friday meeting with operations and finance staff as ‘date night with Tim’ as they often run long into the night.
Cook has overseen the launch of several major Apple products during his nine-year stint, including the Apple Watch and Apple TV+.
Every year, Apple hosts a major autumnal event to showcase new tech – including an iPhone.
This year’s global health crisis threw a spanner in the works, however.
Some gadgets were revealed in the Apple September event with less fanfare than usual – while a bigger iPhone reveal is expected in the coming weeks.
The iPhone 12 is rumoured to be Apple’s first 5G phone and comes with new camera technology that helps it process futuristic augmented reality apps.
As well as Apple One, Apple also showed off two new smartwatches and a refreshed iPad on Tuesday.
Most read in Phones & Gadgets
In other news, Android users are being warned not to download a specific phone background as it could crash their device.
Apple’s next AirPods could track your heart rate – using light sensors in your ears.
And, 3D designers have mocked up what the iPhone 12 could look like.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk