Is it a day in the week that ends with a “y”? That must mean a streaming service is increasing its price. Disney+ and Hulu have increased their subscription costs, Netflix has increased its subscription cost, Prime Video is planning an increase and cost, and now Apple TV+ has joined in on the trend. I mean, why not right? Apple TV+ has officially set its second price increase since its launch. Originally, users paid $4.99 per month to subscribe. Then, that number increased to $6.99 per month. And now, Apple TV+ has officially raised its subscription price to more or less double where it began. Apple TV+ users will have to pay an increased price of $9.99 per month to continue using the service.
CNBC reports that Apple TV+’s annual package has also increased in price, rising from $69 to $99. Additionally, the Apple One bundle package will also see an increase in cost, as will Apple’s Arcade and News+. They will cost $37.95, $6.99, and $12.99 respectively.
Apple TV+ saw its first price increase in October 2022, making this the second price increase in the span of a year. For consumers, the trend of rising prices continues to be alarming. For many streaming platforms, increasing subscription costs also appears to be designed to drive users to more moderately priced ad-tiers. Apple TV+, of course, doesn’t have an ad-supported tier yet, but we’d bet one is coming. Of course, the promise of streaming was initially low-cost and ad-free programming, but that is definitely not the conceit any longer. As subscriber numbers reach plateaus, it seems like streamers are abandoning the quality of life platform they originally espoused, and high costs, ads, password-sharing crackdowns, and more are coming into the picture.
We guess we can only wait and see how the landscape will shift. But for now, all we can say for certain is that Apple TV+ has inceased its price, and basically every other streaming service has as well.
