It’s Tim Cook’s last official week as Apple CEO, but before he goes, he has one more thing. Apple is raising prices for its streaming service in the U.S., effective immediately.
A monthly Apple TV subscription has gone up $2, from $12.99 to $14.99. Meanwhile, an annual subscription now costs $119, up from $99. The Apple One bundle, which includes Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ storage, is also going up to $21.95 a month from $19.95.
Existing subscribers will be notified about the increase a month before their next bill is due.
Apple TV’s last price hike was about a year ago, when its monthly subscription jumped from $9.99 to $12.99. This is the service’s fourth price increase since it launched in 2019 at just $4.99 a month. That means Apple TV now costs three times as much as it did when it launched.
The price hike follows an industry trend of streaming services raising prices every year or so. Over the last two years, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Paramount Plus have all raised their prices. Peacock bumped its prices just a few weeks ago.
Despite arriving late to the streaming wars, Apple TV has managed to establish itself as a serious contender with a stacked lineup of critically acclaimed and buzzy shows and movies.
Apple received 89 nominations for this year’s upcoming Emmy Awards, including Widow’s Bay for outstanding comedy series and Pluribus for outstanding drama series. Other popular Apple TV originals include Shrinking, The Studio, and Severance. The price hike also lands right in the middle of the fourth season of Ted Lasso, which premiered Aug. 5.
Its movies have done pretty well too. CODA won best picture at the 2022 Academy Awards, making Apple the first streaming service to take home the top film prize. And its 2025 Brad Pitt movie F1 went on to become the highest-grossing sports film of all time.
But Apple TV still has a long way to go to catch some of streaming’s biggest players.
Apple does not publicly report subscriber numbers for the service; however, Reuters has estimated that the figure sits at approximately 60 million.
For comparison, Netflix reported having more than 325 million subscribers by the end of 2025.
Apple’s subscriber numbers are likely closer to Peacock, which had 48 million subscribers at the end of June, and Paramount+, which has 81.6 million.
While higher prices could turn off new subscribers, the move appears to be aimed at boosting revenue.
Apple’s Services division, which includes Apple TV alongside the App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud, generated $30.7 billion during the quarter ending in June, below expectations.
“We had the theatrical release of F1, which is one of the highest-grossing sports films in history. And this year, we didn’t. So that had an impact on both the June quarter and also the September quarter,” Apple CFO Kevan Parekh told investors in July.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the full article here
