If you found Apple Arcade and Apple TV just one subscription too many in today’s economy, the good news is that Apple is adding both services to its iCloud+ storage plans at no cost. That means you’ll get both at even the lowest iCloud+ tier — just S$1.48 a month.
This also means that the S$23.95 a month Apple One plan, which came with 50GB iCloud+ storage, Apple TV, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade, or the S$29.95 200GB family plan, will no longer be available. Current Apple One users can continue to stay on the plan, but really, you should just switch.
After all, even if you just stick with the lowest 50GB Apple One plan, combined with an individual Apple Music plan, you’ll still only be paying S$13.46 a month. But if you plan to share with the rest of your family, then you’ll pay S$24.96 a month, which isn’t as much savings.
You also don’t lose all access to Apple Music — iCloud+ will feature Apple Music Select, which offers regionally relevant ad-free stations such as Top Songs, Mandopop, and more.
If you don’t need the full Apple Music experience, the savings are pretty good. You’ll just pay S$1.48 a month for iCloud+, Apple TV, and Apple Arcade. Again, that’s insanely good value, even better than Amazon Prime (S$4.90 a month) which gives you access to Amazon Prime Video (even if you don’t actually shop at Amazon).
Besides providing storage, iCloud+ gives you access to privacy-related features, such as iCloud Private Relay (to keep your browsing private), hide my email, and Apple Invites that allow you to create events you can share. I’ll be honest, I’ve not used the latter much, but the privacy features are honestly worth the monthly sub (on top of the extra storage, of course).
You can share the storage with up to five members, and they also get access to the new services.
By now, you’re probably wondering, what’s the catch? And to be honest, I’m not sure there’s one. Apple TV and Apple Arcade are both considered loss leaders for the company, designed to keep customers hooked on Apple products. The company likely thinks that whatever it’s currently charging (while affordable) isn’t getting enough numbers on board.
Bundling these into its most widely-used service basically adds a ton of subscriber numbers, and looks good in shareholder reports. As for the catch, well, I suppose if history is anything to go by, expect prices for iCloud+ plans to increase in the future. Netflix did it, Amazon did it, HBO did it, and the frog-boiling analogy has never been more apt.
But Apple has mostly been good at holding prices steady for its services — iCloud+ prices have mostly been stable — the last increase in Sep 2023 where the 50GB plan went up to S$1.48 (from S$1.28), while the 2TB plan increased by S$1 to its current S$13.98. Hopefully, any price increase will be long down the line. Meanwhile, enjoy the amazing new season of Ted Lasso, be sure to watch Foundation, For All Mankind, and Shrinking. These are my top picks of what you should watch, anyway.
I’m also looking forward to see what new Apple Arcade games I missed since my subscription lapsed a few months back, especially on the Apple Vision Pro.
Lastly, I’m still waiting to hear back on what happens to annual subscribers for both Apple TV and Apple Arcade. Will they get a refund? I’ve reached out to Apple for an answer. Existing monthly subscribers will have access switched to iCloud+ and their current subscriptions cancelled, but annual subscriptions are already paid for. Check back at news.canbuyornot.com for any updates.