Apple One offers iCloud, Apple Music, TV Plus, Arcade and more in one convenient package.
If you’re an Apple fan then the Apple One subscription service should definitely be on your radar — it combines some of the company’s biggest services in one package, for a reduced price. The service was announced at Apple’s September 2020 event and includes loads of different popular services from the company. While Apple didn’t state an Apple One release date at its September event, Tim Cook later confirmed it as October 30 — just after the iPhone 12 release. Apple One is aimed at people who use many different Apple services — since most of the company’s apps come pre-installed on its devices, that’s likely a fair amount of people. There are a few different tiers that give different combinations of these services, and varying amounts of iCloud storage — for pricing information, scroll down. Apple One’s individual and family plans are available in over 100 countries and regions, and the service will be available across all Apple devices. The Premier plan, though, is only available in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Apple will also be offering a 30-day free trial of the service that will be open to new customers. Apple’s bundled subscription service was announced at the September Time Flies event and you could first sign up on October 30, just in time for all those spooky Halloween games and movies. Saying that, Apple Fitness Plus isn’t actually available yet, so the ‘Premier’ tier of Apple One misses out on this service for the time being. An exact release date for Apple Fitness Plus has yet to be revealed. Apple One is designed to save customers money, as well as enticing more users to sign up to Apple’s subscription services. Pricing starts at $14.95 / £14.95 / AU$19.95 for an individual plan; $19.95 / £19.95 / AU$25.95 for a family plan and $29.95 / £29.95 / AU$39.95 for the premium plan that includes the most iCloud storage. That’s more than a Netflix subscription, obviously, but the idea here is that you’re getting a Netflix equivalent in the form of Apple TV Plus ($4.99/mo.) as well as Apple Music ($9.99/mo), Apple Arcade ($4.99/mo.) and iCloud, which can cost up to $9.99/mo. if you go for the 2TB storage plan. Now, if you decide to go for the individual or family plans, you won’t get Apple News Plus or Apple Fitness Plus in the package, and you’ll have less iCloud storage than folks who opt for the Apple One Premier service. Here’s the complete breakdown from Apple: Crunching the numbers, the individual plan offers a savings of over $6 / £6 / AU$9.50 per month, while the Family plan offers a savings of over $8 / £8 / AU$12.50 per month, and the Premier plan offers a savings of over $25 / £25 / AU$39 per month. There’s an added bonus for Apple Card owners in a 3% cash back bonus if they pay for Apple One with that credit card. So, if you’re paying for all those services individually, it’s a no-brainer. Plus, the company has included a free trial for all three tiers giving you a month where you can try out the service without spending anything. To check out Apple One yourself, visit the Apple website here. If you’re just a casual Apple user, the Individual subscription is probably best for you. It doesn’t cost too much, provides a moderate amount of storage space and gives you the three key entertainment apps. You won’t really need the extras of the other tiers. The Family tier is a little more niche, but it’d be great for a group of the type of person who would be described above, though it might not be ideal for families who just share the same Apple login or subscription service details. Instead, it’s best suited for people who use their iPads or MacBooks for work, as that extra 150GB storage over the Individual tier comes for a very reasonable price – maybe you don’t need to be in a family to benefit from the Family Tier. The Premier tier – at time of writing, at least – isn’t that good a deal, simply because Fitness Plus hasn’t launched yet.
