We’ve been hearing rumors Apple may try to integrate its various subscription services for nearly a year, but a report by Bloomberg today provided more information on the potential launch. According to the report, the subscription will be called ‘Apple One‘ and could launch alongside the iPhone 12 in October.
The report comes courtesy of Mark Gurman, who has an excellent track record with leaks. The subscription could come in several tiers, offering higher discounts the more services you opt for. Gurman identifies four such tiers, which are subject to change prior to launch:
- Apple Music and TV+
- Apple Music, TV+, and Arcade
- Apple Music, TV+, Arcade, and News+
- Apple Music, TV+, Arcade, News+, and extra iCloud storage
Apple One is essentially Cupertino’s take on Amazon Prime — sans the shopping experience. Google also has a subscription service with the ‘One’ appendix too, but it’s aimed more at cloud storage than content consumption.
By offering a subscription, Apple could potentially garner (even more) product loyalty and onboard users to try some of its services they might’ve otherwise ignored. It’s much how Amazon subscribers might end up consuming Prime Video and Prime Music content even if they originally signed up to the service for the fast shipping.
Whether Apple can actually compel users to stick with a bundle is another story. At first, glance, offering so many tiers seems somewhat convoluted, especially since Apple seems to have had mixed success getting people to sign up for these individual services in the first place. But perhaps a package deal is just what the company needed to bolster those subscriber numbers — as long as the price is right, anyway.
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Published August 14, 2020 — 02:16 UTC