Is the Apple One subscription worth it in 2025?

AppleInsider

The Apple One subscription provides access to Apple's premium online services for a single monthly fee. Almost five years after launch, is it still something that is worth paying for?

Apple One

Launched in late 2020, Apple One became an essential collection of services if you're highly enmeshed in the Apple ecosystem. With the fifth anniversary a short few months away, it is a collection that still offers a compelling bundle, to the right customer.

However, as an all-in-one service covering multiple areas, it's not necessarily going to cover everyone's needs. In some cases, a person may find more worth in getting separate subscriptions instead of a package.

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This is where Apple One stands as it approaches an important milestone.

Is Apple One Individual worth it?

Apple One is available in three broad plans, with each offering a bit more incentive to subscribe than the last.

The base package is Individual, which costs $19.95 per month. For that money, you get access to Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud+.

The small iCloud+ allowance is a bit deceiving, as that doesn't include all of the extra features that iCloud+ provides beyond storage. There are things like iCloud Private Relay to hide your UP address, Hide My Email, HomeKit Secure Video support, custom email domains, and even features of the Invites app.

Apple One combines multiple services into one subscription

Broken down on price, the iCloud allowance is worth $0.99, Apple TV+ is $9.99, the Apple Music subscription is $10.99, and Apple Arcade is $6.99 per month.

In effect, Apple One Individual is the equivalent of $9 per month cheaper than paying for all of the services separately.

In terms of when it is worth buying Apple One over separates, it certainly makes sense if you subscribe to Apple Music and Apple TV+, as you would be saving money. If all you subscribe to is Apple Music, it's harder to justify unless you like the look of the other services and think they're worth the $9 shortfall.

Is Apple One Family worth it?

The Family plan is the middle package, and is pretty similar in makeup to the Individual plan, with some exceptions.

First, as the name implies, it's a plan that can be shared with up to five people. If you have a family that all uses Apple's services, this could be a good way for everyone to save a bit of money instead of paying for separate subscriptions.

The allowance for iCloud+ is also increased, going from 50GB to 200GB. Given you're sharing the storage capacity with other people, that makes sense for this element to be bumped up.

'Severance' is a massive show on Apple TV+ - Image Credit: Apple

In terms of the cost breakdown, it is $25.95 per month, which is about $11 cheaper than buying separates. That includes the increased $2.99 cost for more iCloud+ storage and the $16.99 monthly fee for Apple Music under the shareable family plan.

This is certainly a better deal if you have multiple people who use Apple Services and wants to have it all. It's less useful if you're on your own, as you would have a better time with the Individual plan and paying for the iCloud increase separately.

Is Apple One Premier worth it?

The highest level of the collection is Premier. At $37.95 per month, it is the most expensive, but it also offers the most.

At its core, it's the same as the Family plan, in that it can be shared with up to five people. However, for a start, the iCloud+ allowance is up to 2TB, which costs $9.99 per month on its own.

Along with Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade, you then gain access to Apple Fitness+, which would cost $9.99 per month. The addition of Apple News+ is also beneficial, if your group includes avid readers or news junkies, priced at $12.99 per month normally.

Apple Fitness+ is added for Apple One Premier subscribers

In effect, Premier covers the equivalent of almost $67 in subscriptions, or a savings of $29 per month.

This all sounds great, but only if you and your family actually use the additional elements. Not everyone particularly wants to use Apple Fitness+, or read from the additional publications of News+.

If these elements aren't really used by the group, or you're on your own and don't need them either, sticking to one of the lower plans may be a better idea.

Apple One into the future

While Apple One is an appealing subscription that offers pretty good value, it's also one that has improved that value over time. It's certainly better than it was two years ago, with advancements made in Apple Music and Apple TV+ content, not to mention the expanded Apple Arcade catalog.

Apple is rumored to be working on an AI health companion that could use data stored on your device and process it locally. This seems like a service Apple could tack on to Apple One as a future benefit, especially considering the existing Apple Fitness+ inclusion in Premier.

Maybe Apple Intelligence could play a role, with subscribers getting credits for advanced AI features down the road.

With the prospect of Apple widening its Services always on the horizon, Apple One is a decent subscription for the company's users, both now and for the next few years.



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entropys

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with “no”.

davidinsf

I recently went back to T-Mobile and they provide free Apple TV+ subscriptions. I never use Arcade, Fitness doesn’t provide enough content for Senior Citizens and while I used News from time to time, it’s not worth the subscription. For me, the annual subscription price increases forced me to review the costs and I came to the conclusion it’s cheaper to just subscribe to the services I actually use.

ssfe11

Yes definitely Apple News alone is worth it. There are paywalls with everything but most not with Apple News. Also luv Apple Music. 

timpetus

The answer is always dependent on whether you would have subscribed to all of the individual components of each plan. For me, only increased iCloud storage space is worth it. I've had Apple TV+ when it came with my devices for free, but it's not worth the cost to stay subscribed all the time. No interest in the other services, so Apple One doesn't make sense for me.

hypertrev11

Now that Chase Sapphire Rewards will be including Apple TV+ and Apple Music but excludes any discount for Apple One I'm in a pickle as to what to do.

applezulu

timpetus said:

The answer is always dependent on whether you would have subscribed to all of the individual components of each plan. For me, only increased iCloud storage space is worth it. I've had Apple TV+ when it came with my devices for free, but it's not worth the cost to stay subscribed all the time. No interest in the other services, so Apple One doesn't make sense for me.

The answer is dependent on whether you would have subscribed to enough of the individual components of each plan such that the individual costs of those components is equal to or greater than the cost of the plan. Once you've reached that threshold, whether or not you would otherwise have subscribed to any of the other components is irrelevant. The other services can then just be ignored, or you can dabble in them, essentially for free.

It's like an all you can eat buffet. You don't actually have to eat three servings of everything that's offered to win. Heck, you don't even have to be gluttonous. Perhaps you just want small portions of a larger variety of things than you could get by ordering from the menu. 

edited June 18

jamnap

I have never understood Apple’s market strategy with these bundles.  I do not play games, and would consider a TV, Music, iCloud bundle, but Apple does not offer one.  Arcade is in all the bundles; not appealing to me.  Also, I have no interest in News or Fitness.  So Apple, bundle me TV, Music and iCloud at a reasonable price and I will sign up.

daven

I get it for the music, news, and storage. Not sure which level I have but my sister is on my account and she takes a lot of photos so I needed the space. I don’t think about the cost so much (which is unusual because I’m a penny pincher with most everything else) because the dividends from my Apple stock more than covers the subscription cost.

blastdoor

ssfe11 said:

Yes definitely Apple News alone is worth it. There are paywalls with everything but most not with Apple News. Also luv Apple Music. 

Agreed. At this point I get the vast majority of my news from Apple News. It's kind of crept up on me as other sources have declined in quality and availability (ie, going behind paywalls). 

In addition to News, I also get a lot of use from TV and Music. I also like the 2TB of storage. 

I get almost no use from Fitness+ and Arcade. 

mike wuerthele

entropys said:

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with “no”.

But yet, here we are.

wesley_hilliard

I'm certainly not anywhere near the norm, but I've basically killed every subscription except Apple One and Crunchyroll. I've spent the past decade buying movie bundles and TV show collections at heavy discounts in iTunes and the TV app, so my back catalog is extensive. If something new comes along and it's able to be purchased, I just buy it since the cost of one season is usually equivalent to a month or two of a sub.

If something is exclusive, like only on Amazon or Netflix with no purchase option, I subscribe when I intend to watch then cancel immediately. I just wish more content was available day in date with streamers so I could just buy them.

Apple TV+, my purchases, and Crunchyroll are more than enough content 90% of the time. And those sales on Apple TV help me grow my collection pretty easily and cheaply.

The best time to take on my method is a decade ago, but nothing says you can't start now. Though, depending on what you watch, subscribing to a service might just be cheaper than buying outright. It all depends of course.

But I keep Apple One flipped on permanently because I find value in every service it offers. I use Fitness+ daily, 2TB of iCloud Storage is still enough for my family, News+ and Arcade are both regularly used, and I'd pay for Apple TV+ and Apple Music no matter what. It's a win win for me.

mattinoz

Mike Wuerthele said:

entropys said:

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with “no”.

But yet, here we are.

It’s certainly not a definitive yes. 

So I’m with Betteridge here.

Would have been more interesting if you looked at reasonable alternatives to each service and the potential friction saved by Apples own solution. I say that as a very happy customer of the family plan, having been screwed over by highly respected photo archives in the past. Still understand the other people on my family plan probably wouldn’t find it worth keeping it without me. Indeed they are in the family to make my life easier.

anthogag

Apple One continues to increase in price. Ergo, MLS should be included in Apple One. Messi won't be there forever.

edited June 18

jbishop1039

Apple One Premier subscriber here. I use all 6 services, so saving $37 a month makes perfect sense. Plus I share with my parents and son, saving them money too and ensuring they have access to iCloud storage for backups so in case anything happens, I know their data is safe. Everyone has their favorites from the services offered and it costs them nothing extra to use. Definitely a valued subscription for me. 

wesley_hilliard

mattinoz said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

entropys said:

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with “no”.

But yet, here we are.

It’s certainly not a definitive yes. 

So I’m with Betteridge here.

Would have been more interesting if you looked at reasonable alternatives to each service and the potential friction saved by Apples own solution. I say that as a very happy customer of the family plan, having been screwed over by highly respected photo archives in the past. Still understand the other people on my family plan probably wouldn’t find it worth keeping it without me. Indeed they are in the family to make my life easier.

It wasn't the scope of this story, but it's also not hard to find. But here's me doing some leg work for you:

iCloud+ 2TB: $10 vs Dropbox 2TB: $10

Fitness+: $9 vs Fitbod: $13

News+: $13 vs NYT: $25

Apple Music Family: $17 vs Spotify Family: $20

Now, this one is a kicker. The only good thing about Spotify is an algorithm they bought, but I also hate it because I prefer the combination of human curation and algorithmic playlists on Apple Music. Plus, Apple Music has Lossless audio with Atmos. That, and Apple actually pays artists and isn't known for blatant theft and seeking to confuse users into listening to less music so it'll cost less money per user.

There's no real alternative to Apple TV+. It's the only place to get those shows and movies, and they're some of my favorite programming on television in the past five years. $10 is low compared to competitors too.

Apple Arcade is another tough compare since it's the only one on iPhone that'll give you this kind of catalog for $7 a month. Netflix games and Crunchyroll do exist as part of those subscriptions, but they are tiny and specific catalogs.

Hope that helps! I think Apple One is a steal for what it provides, and the ecosystem advantage is baked in.

lotones

When I started with Apple One I was already paying for iCloud storage and Apple TV, and I was curious about Apple Music. Apple One offered both Apple Music and Arcade for only $5 more a month, so it was a no brainer.

The price has gone up a bit like everything else, and I hardly use Arcade, but I love Apple Music. Just having all my scratchy soul and funk from back in the day sound brand new is worth the price of admission alone, not to mention stuff I never got around to buying and new music also. All without leaving the house.

bestkeptsecret

We only have 2 Apple One plans in India - one for the individual and one for the family. There is no Apple Fitness or Apple News here, so the plans only cover iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. 
The iCloud+ offering is only 50GB for the individual plan and 200GB for the family plan. 

I subscribe to the 6TB iCloud+ plan, so the Apple One family plan doesn't make sense for me. It still is cheaper to pay annually for Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade and monthly for the Apple Music family plan.

Still, the family plan costs ~$4.2 per month, so I guess it makes sense if iCloud space needs are less.

mike wuerthele

mattinoz said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

entropys said:

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with “no”.

But yet, here we are.

It’s certainly not a definitive yes. 

So I’m with Betteridge here.

Would have been more interesting if you looked at reasonable alternatives to each service and the potential friction saved by Apples own solution. I say that as a very happy customer of the family plan, having been screwed over by highly respected photo archives in the past. Still understand the other people on my family plan probably wouldn’t find it worth keeping it without me. Indeed they are in the family to make my life easier.

It's also not a definitive no.
 
Anyway. it's impossible to make every piece everything, to everybody. We do "alternative to X" pieces in the past, and will do so again, as Wes' comment has made clear.

edited June 19

applezulu

jamnap said:

I have never understood Apple’s market strategy with these bundles.  I do not play games, and would consider a TV, Music, iCloud bundle, but Apple does not offer one.  Arcade is in all the bundles; not appealing to me.  Also, I have no interest in News or Fitness.  So Apple, bundle me TV, Music and iCloud at a reasonable price and I will sign up.

You understand that the Apple One individual bundle costs $2 less per month than if you subscribe to TV, Music, and iCloud separately, right? You get that price even if you never use the other apps included in the bundle. 

Apple’s market strategy is to intentionally bundle things you don’t plan to use much with the things that you do.  Increasing the numbers for the user base for those “extras” increases their buying power to attract content providers. Bundling also eliminates the practice of switching on and off individual subscriptions for less used services. On top of that, they know some percentage of subscribers will end up interacting with those “unwanted” extras more than they thought, because they’re there and available. Those additional user interactions will also increase Apple’s buying power to attract content providers. 

It would just be dumb for them to give you a discount for “bundling” only the services you already subscribe to individually anyway. The whole point of bundling is to modify user behavior, and intentionally giving a discount for current behavior is giving away money for nothing. 

appleish

We have Premier. The first three services are necessities for us. Our usage is:
iCloud+ 2TB: Constantly (We're at 1.7TB at the moment, after the ~OS26 transition, I'm betting we might need to bump up to 4TB)
Apple Music: Hours every day
Apple TV+: Almost every day
Apple News+: Semi-daily, but not a lot (the recipe catalog has me using it more these days)*
Apple Fitness+: A couple of times a week at most
Apple Arcade: Now and then

We're a small family, but are power users (nerds). Whenever they raise their rates, which has been often, I crunch the numbers. At a minimum we would need Family plus iCloud+ 2TB = $36 a month. So for two more bucks, we get the three services we could probably live without, but like I said, it's only two bucks.

*Now that we live in the worst timeline ever, I have blocked all mainstream news in the app for myself. It's all niche interests, food, Apple, cars, technology, HiFi, vinyl, music, film, TV etc...