Apple One is a monthly subscription service that lets you enjoy various Apple services at a lower price than paying for them individually.
Depending on your needs and preferences, you can choose from three different plans: Individual, Family, or Premier. But what exactly do you get with each plan, and how much can you save by bundling them together?
Here’s a quick overview of what Apple One offers and how it compares to buying services separately.
Individual: $16.95 per month
This plan includes four services: Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ (50GB of storage).
If you were to subscribe to each service separately, you would pay $26.96 per month, so you save $10.01 per month or $120.12 per year by bundling.
Family: $22.95 per month
The family plan includes the same four services as the Individual plan, but with 200GB of iCloud+ storage and the ability to share the services you subscribe to with up to five family members.
If you bought each service separately, you would pay $37.96 per month, so you save $15.01 per month or $180.12 per year with Apple One.
Premier: $32.95 per month
This plan includes six services: Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud+ (2TB of storage), Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+. This plan is also shareable with up to five family members.
If you were to subscribe to each service separately, you would pay $69.94 per month, so you save $36.99 per month or $443.88 per year.
Is Apple One Worth It?
As you can see, Apple One can offer significant savings for customers who use multiple Apple services. However, whether it’s worth it for you depends on how much value you get from each service and how often you use it.
For example, if you only use Apple Music and iCloud+, you might be better off paying for them individually than subscribing to Apple One.
On the other hand, if you’re interested in trying out new services like Apple TV+ or Apple Fitness+, Apple One will give you a free trial for the first month and a lower price afterward.
Where is the À la Carte Option?
For me, Apple One isn’t worth it, and it probably won’t be unless I can cherry-pick the services that I want to bundle. That’s not an option right now, but I don’t see any real reasons why it couldn’t be.
For instance, the only way to bundle Fitness+ or News+ in Apple One is to buy the Premier bundle. That’s unfortunate, but I get it.
For simplicity, the current three-tier option is clear and easy to understand, but why not give us a fourth choice: the ability to build our own bundle.
How Do You Subscribe to Apple One?
On an iOS device, you can subscribe to Apple One by opening the Settings app and tapping on your name, (Apple ID). Then tap Subscriptions to choose the plan you want to try.
On a Mac, you do the same, but in System Settings. Next, tap “Media and Purchases”, and then select “Subscriptions”.
Any subscriptions you don’t already have are free for the first month of your Apple One subscription. So, if you already have Apple Music, you will continue paying for it until your first month of Apple One is up.
At the end of your free month, you will be charged for the plan you have on trial and Apple Music will be moved over to that subscription. Apple One is a monthly subscription, so you can cancel at any time.
How Do You Share Apple One With Family Members?
If you have a Family or Premier plan, you can share services with up to five family members. To do that, you need to set up Family Sharing.
From there, it is quick and easy to add a family member to your shared subscription via the Settings app on your device. All you need to do is make sure “Share with Family” is enabled, and then choose the subscription you want to share.
Conclusion
Apple One is not for everyone. However, even if you don’t use all the services from one of these plans, you often get close to getting one for free simply by bundling the ones that you do use. That gives you the chance to try something like Apple Arcade risk-free and at no additional cost.
