I ditched Apple music a while ago, with them all being offered as pay monthly no contract services you can freely try them out, many offering free timed demos. I’m currently using Deezer as I found it’s quality to be better then Apples lossless, go figure. Apple severely lacks the content to justify its price increases on Apple TV, and increasing profits by 10 billion in a year on its services doesn’t exactly justify its increases either, even with inflation. It will lose customers I expect as a result.
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Apple Increasing Pricing of Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One
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I ditched Apple music a while ago, with them all being offered as pay monthly no contract services you can freely try them out, many offering free timed demos. I’m currently using Deezer as I found it’s quality to be better then Apples lossless, go figure. Apple severely lacks the content to justify its price increases on Apple TV, and increasing profits by 10 billion in a year on its services doesn’t exactly justify its increases either, even with inflation. It will lose customers I expect as a result.
In some countries like the U.K. by law they need to inform you of any price increases before they occur. They just send an email out though so it’s no biggie to them.
Got my price increase notification this morning. Canceled AM just in time. $1 a month isn’t a big deal to me financially, but the principle is. I’ll suffer with YouTube Music for now.
Apple today announced pricing increases for several of its services, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, and the Apple One bundles that include those services.
Apple Music is increasing in price by $1 for individual users and $2 for the family plan, while Apple TV is increasing in price by $2. All Apple One prices will also rise accordingly, according to information obtained by 9to5Mac. Full pricing is as follows:
Apple Music
- Individual plan - $10.99/month, a $1 increase
- Family plan - $16.99/month, a $2 increase
- Annual plan for individuals - $109/year, a $10 increase
Apple TV+
- Monthly plan - $6.99/month, a $2 increase
- Annual plan - $69/year, a $20 increase
Apple One
Apple says that prices are going up as of today due to increased licensing costs. For Apple Music, the increase will provide artists and songwriters with additional money for their music. The price of Apple TV+ is rising now that it has more content, according to Apple.
- Individual plan - $16.95/month, a $2 increase
- Family plan - $22.95/month, a $3 increase
- Premium plan - $32.95/month, a $3 increase
The pricing increases listed pertain to the United States, but prices will be going up in most countries. Current Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One subscribers will receive notifications about the price increase 30 days ahead of when it is enacted, giving them time to cancel if they do not wish to pay the higher price.
Article Link: Apple Increasing Pricing of Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One
This increase gave me time to reflect on if I actually use or need any of these services, and besides iCloud and Apple Music I don’t - so that’s Apple One cancelled and a nice monthly saving coming my way.
That's why there's a cost of living crisis, absolutely everyone is raising their prices. That's capitalism at work for you. The house will always win.
But here's the thing. I mostly work from home and after wife goes in to the office I press play on AM and it runs from 8am till after wife comes home, so a total of around 10 hours, every day. When I go walking/trekking, snowboarding, road tripping, cycling etc, AM goes with. When I'm on the couch I build playlists on my laptop and when I later go out the music is already automatically downloaded on to my phone.
But go on and cancel it, if you don't use it, whatever it is. I just cancelled my monthly cell phone subscription because I wasn't using even half of the included data and minutes several months in a row. Now back on pure pre-paid and the savings on that more than covers the exorbitant AM price increase. When I do need a bit of mobile data for whatever reason, together with local pre-paid providers an international travellers data e-sim from the likes of Ubigi or Airalo also does the job. Got 1 physical and 2 e-sims, and counting. Paid good money for this 12 mini which I have decided I 'need', so I make a point of using its e-sim features among others which then end up saving me in the long run.
In other words, I might go a whole month using no mobile data, then the next month maybe €10, next month €1, next month €3. So even though in some cases the per MB rate on a monthly plan is cheaper than pre-paid, over a year a subscription would actually cost me more considering my very erratic usage.
A mobile subscription that gives you only 2GB / month over one year in Belgium costs €120. My average pre-paid use in a year, while travelling, about €50. €5 on a Lyca Mobile pre-paid sim card in Spain gets you 6GB for 28 days, or €10 on Vodafone gets you 25GB, and you can roam all over the EU with those. Why do I need a Belgian subscription that costs twice as much and gives me less than half?
Am I nitpicking? Probably, although 1 buck + 1 buck gives you 2, 2 + 2 gives you 4, etc etc. So yes, it all adds up.
Every month when I consult my bills I think long and hard about who is taking my money and what I'm getting in return. You may be surprised at what you can probably do without.....Netflix is treading on very thin ice right now. But only you ultimately know what it is you can or can't live without. I would rather turn the thermostat down even more and sit under a blanket so I can keep Apple Music, my iPhone and Bose headphones.
Point is, for what I find is an extremely convenient service I think I can shoulder the extra buck a month for AM. And when they put it up yet again, and they will, I will re-consider its usefulness once more.
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I mentioned this price increase to a couple of my work colleagues last week and they both said ‘oh god I’ve been meaning to cancel that’. One has Apple Music and Apple TV and the other just had Apple TV. I’d imagine a lot of people will realise it’s gone up and will be cutting it from their monthly expenditure. We are in a cost of living crisis and it’s services like this that get the chop for many people. I’m keeping my Amazon music subscription as it’s still £10 a month at this point and I use it everyday. Last time I looked Apple Music was £16.99 for the family plan so it wasn’t competitive back then, let alone if the cost goes up again.
Apple One family plan will be £22.95 which is £3 more than before but I still think it’s the best value overall if you make use of what’s included.
I was originally paying for Apple Music and extra storage which was a no brainer to jump in on Apple One when that was released.
A couple of us make use of Apple Arcade on both our phones and Apple TV, Apple Music gets use pretty much daily, enjoying everything we’ve watched so for on ATV+ and then there’s the extra storage which I’m no longer paying separately for.
If you make use of it and see the value, then that’s great. I cancelled Apple Music after using it for 3 months as Amazon was cheaper and had all the same content I listen to. I also cancelled Apple TV+ after having it for 2 years for free as I never found enough on it to warrant paying a monthly subscription. I still subscribe to Netflix and Amazon Prime video though. It’s a buyers market and there’s so much choice out there and for me Apple are just too expensive.
Price increase has helped me make a decision to cancel something I wasn't getting much use out of. A luxury. Times are hard and digital goods inflation makes zero sense to me, but whatever. Unfortunate for those who do use Apple services a lot.
We were forced to switch from Spotify to Apple Music a year ago, when there wasn't a native Mac version of the Spotify app and it was draining our M1 mac's battery like crazy (we have 4 M1 macs in the house). Now that Spotify has a native Apple silicon version, and I got an email saying Apple Music is going to have a price increase, it's a no-brainer.
Just cancelled Apple Music literally 10 minutes ago and signed up the whole household to back Spotify family.
At this point I'm glad that iCloud+ is not part of the current price increase. Our family shares the 2TB plan (my brother edits video for a living and my girlfriend works as a graphic artist hence the need for the insane amount of cloud storage) BUT the moment Apple announces a price increase for iCloud+, we're all getting external SSDs and getting rid of iCloud+ as well.
We get tons of value from Apple hardware, but I don't see any added value with Apple's own service offerings.
So long, Apple Music. It was a good one year. I just have to deal with everyone in the house getting pissed at me now because they'll have to update their old playlists on Spotify. Oh, well. Anything to save money in these trying times.
Just cancelled Apple Music literally 10 minutes ago and signed up the whole household to back Spotify family.
At this point I'm glad that iCloud+ is not part of the current price increase. Our family shares the 2TB plan (my brother edits video for a living and my girlfriend works as a graphic artist hence the need for the insane amount of cloud storage) BUT the moment Apple announces a price increase for iCloud+, we're all getting external SSDs and getting rid of iCloud+ as well.
We get tons of value from Apple hardware, but I don't see any added value with Apple's own service offerings.
So long, Apple Music. It was a good one year. I just have to deal with everyone in the house getting pissed at me now because they'll have to update their old playlists on Spotify. Oh, well. Anything to save money in these trying times.
Just received the notice today (of course from a "no reply" e-mail address). Apple marketed Premier heavily in early October, got me to sign up then immediately raised the price 10%. Leaves a "rotten apple" taste in my mouth.
FWIW, A1 is only on monthly subs, so you can cancel and pay no more than a month if the price is now a dealbreaker.
Unsubscribed.
Have been paying AM for years.
I want to see what's left after unsubscribing, as I merged my carefully CD ripped collection into AM, I suppose I will lose them all, except for music AM does not have and songs bought in iTunes Store.
It will be probably painful.
But if painful it has to be, better to face reality now and adapt.
Nobody can pay forever.
And music is too important to do not have control over it.
Have been paying AM for years.
I want to see what's left after unsubscribing, as I merged my carefully CD ripped collection into AM, I suppose I will lose them all, except for music AM does not have and songs bought in iTunes Store.
It will be probably painful.
But if painful it has to be, better to face reality now and adapt.
Nobody can pay forever.
And music is too important to do not have control over it.
Forgot to mention: Music.app is embarrassing.
I never know where search is searching into (the store?, my library?, a store folder?). Also only gets exact matches.
I have to close and reopen the program to let stream work again. Happens when Music.app has been opened for more than a day.
I loved iTunes, it used to handle too many things, right, but Music.app has the same issue. Just that the many things changes, still too many.
I never know where search is searching into (the store?, my library?, a store folder?). Also only gets exact matches.
I have to close and reopen the program to let stream work again. Happens when Music.app has been opened for more than a day.
I loved iTunes, it used to handle too many things, right, but Music.app has the same issue. Just that the many things changes, still too many.
Problem with most any family thing is it's great if you're married with enough kids to fill all the slots, but it shafts couples. Nice that Spotify at least sees this and has a duo plan. Just seems dumb I can't find any way to cast from the phone app.
Apple One
In Australia this has gone from $49.95/month a $7 increase
Almost 14%.
I guest they have to transmit the signal further . . .
- Premium plan - $32.95/month, a $3 increase
In Australia this has gone from $49.95/month a $7 increase
Almost 14%.
I guest they have to transmit the signal further . . .
The continuing case of RotW paying large increases to keep prices attractive in the home market. Just like they have done with the hardware in recent years.
I do like Macs in so far as the OS and Apple apps do more to meet my specific needs than those in the PC world, but otherwise, Apple are indefensible money grabbing parasites whose morals are lower than a snake's ballsack.
I do like Macs in so far as the OS and Apple apps do more to meet my specific needs than those in the PC world, but otherwise, Apple are indefensible money grabbing parasites whose morals are lower than a snake's ballsack.
Much of the overseas price increases were due to the stronger USD and had nothing to do with "wanting to keep prices attractive in the home market."
Using the UK and iPhones as an example, while there have been some price increases, there have also been multiple years of price DECREASES in the UK when the U.S. didn't see price decreases. Again, much of this was due to currency exchange rates which are out of Apple's control. For example, the starting price with VAT of the iPhone Pro models went from £1,049 for 11 Pro to £999 for 12 Pro (decrease #1) to £949 for 13 Pro (decrease #2) to £1,099 for 14 Pro to £999 for 15 Pro (decrease #3). The starting price of an iPhone 15 Pro in the UK is actually LOWER than what the starting price of the 11 Pro was four years ago.
I've seen this argument defending UK/EU/AUS prices more times than I've had hot dinners, and it's still wrong because none of you look at the historical picture. When the exchange rates were very very much in our favour, we still paid through the nose. When the iPhone 3GS was launched in 2009, the exchange rate was about $1.55 to the £ but the Apple UK price was the Apple US price with the $ swapped for a £. I had a colleague who travelled from here to the States to buy a hundred of them specifically to sell back here to friends and family.
So yeah. It's historic.
EDIT: you also don't compare the US vs UK/EU/AUS prices of 'non-Apple' devices, both now and when the exchange rates were more favourable. Because obviously you've never needed to. I can tell you now, out of all the major players in the tech industry, literally only Apple has a reputation of ripping us off so explicitly. It's just plain and simple GREED.
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Apple prices between the U.S. and UK are not necessarily that different. Using the iPhone as an example again, the pre-VAT price for a 128GB iPhone 15 in the UK is £665 which at the current exchange rate is around $834 USD. The pre-sales tax price for the same phone in the U.S. is $829. The UK price at the current exchange rate is only $5 higher. Apple is hardly being greedy here.
As I mentioned, exchange rates can impact prices. Not Apple’s fault. The other issue is the UK's (and rest of Europe's) high VAT. Also not Apple's fault. You can't blame Apple or call them "greedy" for pricing factors related to exchange rates or what governments may charge in purchase taxes.