Skip to main content

Apple One is great, but it’s missing something important

Apple introduced Apple One in 2020, providing an easy way for avid Apple users to subscribe to multiple services at once, and get a nice bundle discount for doing so. It offers three tiers, and its remained that way since it launched. However, I think Apple would benefit greatly from offering a fourth tier, capturing a key demographic.

Apple One tiers

Currently, Apple One offers three tiers: Individual, Family, and Premier.

Individual comes in at $19.95/month, offering Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, and 50GB of iCloud+ storage. Family comes in at $26.95/month, bumping up your iCloud+ storage to 200GB, and enabling family sharing for all of your services. Last but not least, Premier comes in at $37.95/month, giving users access to Apple Fitness+ and Apple News+, as well as a full 2TB of iCloud+ storage.

Apple One subscription pricing screenshot

This system is mostly fine, and I don’t really have any complaints with the three tiers as they exist today. All that said, I think there’s great opportunity to introduce a fourth tier: one for students.

The precedent

Apple already sees the value in offering a student tier for services, given the fact that they do so with Apple Music. Apple Music normally comes in at $10.99/month, but verified college students can save around 50%, bringing the service down to just $5.99/month for them.

That alone is compelling enough, but Apple Music Student actually has a secret perk: free access to Apple TV+, indefinitely. It’s not a free trial. As long as you subscribe to Apple Music Student and Apple continues to offer the perk, you’ll have access to Apple TV+.

Technically speaking, this is a limited time perk. Apple’s website states that the offer “may end at any time.” However, Apple has been offering it for many years, ever since the service launched in late 2019.

Apple already has a low-scale student bundle going here, so why not expand it?

The proposal: Apple One Student

Apple One Student should remain simple. I think the most compelling package would likely be taking the individual plan and offering a discount for students. This way, students can access iCloud+ for backups and photo syncing, as well as Apple Arcade for casual gaming, on top of their already existing perks of Apple Music and Apple TV+.

Given the fact that Apple Music Student is priced at a 45% discount compared to the normal plan, we could estimate that a student version of Apple One Individual would come in around $10.95.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty compelling offering to help Apple to bolster its subscriber numbers with a younger audience, especially when it comes to Apple Arcade.

Top comment by urname

Liked by 6 people

It would be great to change all their tiers to mix and match tiers instead. So tier 1 would be any 2 services, tier 2 would be any 4 services, and tier 3 would be all 6 of them.

View all comments

Plus, when these students eventually graduate (or after 5 years, whichever comes first), they’re likely to stay subscribed to Apple One Individual since they’ve already gotten used to the perks. It’s a win win for both Apple and verified college students.


What do you think of this idea for students? Would you change anything about it? Let us know in the comments.

My favorite iPhone accessories on Amazon:

Follow Michael: X/TwitterBlueskyInstagram

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Michael Burkhardt Michael Burkhardt

Michael is 9to5Mac’s Weekend Editor, keeping up with all of the latest Apple news on Saturday and Sunday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and has published numerous apps over the years.