Apple TV Jacks Prices Up Again — Second Hike in a Year Leaves Subscribers Fuming

Apple raised the price of its Apple TV streaming service effective Friday, August 28, with the monthly plan climbing from $12.99 to $14.99 and the annual plan rising from $99 to $119. The increase also pushed the price of the Apple One Individual bundle — which combines Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and iCloud storage — from $19.95 to $21.95 per month [1, 2]. New subscribers were charged the higher rate immediately, while existing subscribers received roughly a month’s notice before the new pricing took effect on their next billing cycle [3]. The hike marks the second increase in just over a year, following a jump from $9.99 to $12.99 in August 2025 [4].

Apple has framed the increase as reflecting continued investment in original programming, pointing to the fourth season of “Ted Lasso” and its “F1” documentary as recent premium releases [1]. Subscriber response online has skewed negative, with many threatening to cancel and pointing to Apple TV’s comparatively small content library next to rivals like Netflix and Max [5].

Why It Sucks:

Apple TV Subscribers

• Second price hike in a single year. Subscribers are being asked to pay 50% more than they were two years ago, and many feel the library still doesn’t justify the cost compared to competitors with decades of back catalog [4, 5].
• Thin content library, premium price tag. Users note Apple TV lacks the depth of legacy hits like “The Office” or “Friends” that make rival services worth the price, making this hike feel unearned [5].
• Bundle costs creep up too. The Apple One Individual plan increase means even people who don’t primarily watch Apple TV are paying more just to keep their existing bundle intact [1, 2].

Apple

• Premium originals cost real money. Apple is betting that flagship titles like “Ted Lasso” and “F1” justify a higher price point, arguing quality-over-quantity content still requires sustained investment to keep producing [1].
• Streaming economics are brutal everywhere. Apple TV has never turned a profit reportedly, and rising production costs across the industry are pushing every streamer toward price adjustments just to stay in the game [3, 4].
• Bundle value still undercuts standalone pricing. Even after the hike, Apple One packages TV with music, gaming, and storage at a price still cheaper than subscribing to each Apple service separately [1].

Streaming Industry Analysts

• Subscription fatigue is reaching a breaking point. Back-to-back annual hikes across nearly every major streamer are testing how much price inflation consumers will tolerate before mass cancellations hit the whole sector, not just Apple [4, 5].
• Smaller players risk losing the price war. With a fraction of the content volume of Netflix or Disney+, Apple TV raising prices at the same pace as bigger libraries risks accelerating subscriber churn industry-wide [5].
• Bundling strategy sets a template others will copy. Apple raising Apple One alongside standalone Apple TV signals a broader trend of using bundles to soften standalone price shocks, a tactic other tech-adjacent streamers are watching closely [1, 2].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Variety: Apple TV Hikes Price of Streaming Service in U.S. Effective Immediately
[2] 9to5Mac: Apple announces price increase for Apple TV and Apple One subscriptions
[3] MacRumors: Apple TV Streaming Service Receives Price Increase
[4] TechCrunch: Apple TV is raising its subscription prices again
[5] Tom’s Guide: Apple TV Plus price hike enrages subscribers — ‘this will do it for me’