Does apple one automatically cancel other subscriptions

Posted 19th November 2020 in Apple

Earlier this year, when COVID-19 hit the UK and we were placed in lockdown, my wife an I needed some good watching to look forward to once the kids were in bed. We watched Twin Peaks (excellent for 1½ seasons) and have just finished The Sopranos (hands-down the best thing I’ve ever watched). The Wire is on our ‘to watch’ list, but we wanted something a bit more light hearted first.

When Ted Lasso debuted in the summer, I dismissed it out of hand: my wife really isn’t interested in sports, and I’m not really all that bothered. But as time has gone by and I’ve heard more reports of how good Ted Lasso is, and it felt like the right show to watch next. A tweet from Sophie Koonin, friend of Frontend NE, tipped the balance:

Unexpected TV gem alert: Ted Lasso on Apple TV. I’m not a football person but I am loving this, it’s delightful

Subscribing to Apple One

So we decided to cancel our NowTV (HBO) ‘Entertainment Pass’ and try Apple TV+ for a while.

I’m already an Apple Music Family plan subscriber, so I pay Apple £14.99 each month for that. Adding Apple TV+ would increase that by £4.99 to £19.98 per month. But for £19.95 I could get the Apple One Family plan to:

continue with my Apple Music Family plan
get Apple TV+
get Apple Arcade (which I’ll probably never use)
get some bundled iCloud storage
save 3p

But there were a few things that weren’t clear when I went to sign up.

What happens to my existing Apple Music subscription?

If you have something that’s part of the bundle already, for example Apple Music, subscribing to Apple One replaces the existing subscription, so you don’t have to cancel it.

If you’re part way through a billing cycle for your existing subscription, you’ll automatically get a refund for the remaining part of the month. I received £1.93 back on my Apple Music family plan, with 4 days remaining in the month.

What about the free trials?

There’s usually a 7 day free trial for Apple TV+, and a month’s free trial for Apple One. If I’d bought Apple TV+ on its own I’d’ve probably go the 7 days, but since I was moving to the bundle with an existing subscription (Apple Music) I was charged immediately.

No free trial for Apple One if you’re already got one (or more) of the services in the bundle.

What happens to my existing iCloud storage?

I pay for 2TB of iCloud storage at the moment, and I was worried that I might be downgraded to 200GB and possibly lose some content that was stored on iCloud. But I took a leap of faith and it turns out the Apple One storage was simply added on top of my existing plan.

So iCloud storage works slightly differently to the Apple Music subscription: it doesn’t replace it, it’s added over and above what you already have. I continue to pay for 2TB and my Apple One plan has 200GB, so now have get 2.2TB.

So don’t be scared

Having had a poke around Apple documentation when checking a few details for this article, I spotted some information about the iCloud storage that I didn’t find at first. I don’t think Apple are being opaque, as more clarity would no doubt mean more uptake of Apple One, but the facts are tricky to find!

I hope this has helped clear up one or two questions you might have had about upgrading. Basically, go for it. If only for Ted Lasso: it’s brilliant!

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Announced in March of 2020, Apple One is an all-in-one subscription that bundles up to six Apple services: Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+. Here’s everything you need to know about Apple One.

Apple One is a subscription bundle, which offers three different tiers.

Individual: $14.95/month for Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud storage.
Family: $19.95/month, you can share Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 200GB of iCloud storage with up to six family members.
Premier: $29.95, you can share Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and 2TB of iCloud storage with up to six family members.

Any services you haven’t already subscribed to are free for the first month of your Apple One subscription. You can cancel it at any time.

For comparison’s sake, here’s how much each service costs individually:

Apple Music: $9.99/month for the individual plan, $16.99/month for the family plan, $5.99 for the student plan, and $4.99 for the voice plan;
Apple TV+: $4.99/month;
Apple Arcade: $4.99/month;
Apple News+: $9.99/month;
Apple Fitness+: $9.99/month or $79.99/year;
iCloud+: $0.99/month for 50GB, $2.99/month for 200GB, and $9.99/month for 2TB.

What does every Apple One service do?

Apple Music

Apple Music is the company’s music streaming subscription-based service that was released on June 30 of 2015 in 100 countries. Apple Music has over 90 million songs in its catalog and offers the ability to download your favorite tracks and play them offline.

The company offers Lossless support for Apple Music, with almost all of its catalog supporting this higher quality. The music streaming service also features Spatial Audio with songs authored in Dolby Atmos. Users are able to listen to select albums with an immersive 3D sound space on AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip. Apple says thousands of Dolby Atmos songs are available.

Here is everything you need to know about Apple Music.

Apple TV+

Apple TV+ offers exclusive Apple original TV shows and movies in 4K HDR quality. You can watch across all of your screens and pick up where you left off on any device. Here’s every Apple original television show and movie available now on Apple TV+, as well as the latest trailers.

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade is a game subscription service with over 200 new and exclusive games. The service syncs between all of your devices and supports offline playing. There are no ads or in-app purchases with the service. The service allows access to all members in a Family Sharing account.

Recently the company is bringing classic games back to life within Apple Arcade, like Angry Birds, Alto’s Adventure, Cut the Rope, and more.

Here are some of our favorite Apple Arcade games:

Mini Motorways
Grindstone
Fantasian
Super Impossible Road
The Pinball Wizard

Here’s everything you need to know about Apple Arcade.

Apple News+

Apple News+ integrates directly into the News app and features magazines from National Geographic, Popular Science, New Yorker, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and more. Apple News+ also includes content from the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. Readers can follow their favorite topics, favorite publications, and even subscribe to push notifications for breaking news alerts.

Recently, Apple announced that it will halve its cut of In-App Purchases for publishers that also participate in Apple News.

The Apple News Partner Program means that if a publisher has a significant presence inside the Apple News app, including adopting Apple’s custom Apple News Format for generating articles, that publisher will get a discount on the commission on subscriptions taken out inside their native iPhone and iPad app.

This program represents a halving of the standard 30% commission for In-App Purchases and means that participating news apps will collect 85% of the revenue from in-app subscriptions from day one.

Here’s everything you need to know about Apple News+.

Apple Fitness+

Apple calls Fitness+ the “next era of fitness” and for people of all skill levels. Fitness+ requires an Apple Watch and can be used with iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV with the latest software updates.

Since November of 2021, Fitness+ is available in 15 new countries. Here are all the new regions that received the service: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UAE.

Here’s everything you need to know about Apple Fitness+.

iCloud+

iCloud launched in 2011 as the successor to MobileMe and it’s Apple’s current cloud service that allows iOS and Mac users to save and synchronize data. Apple includes 5GB of iCloud storage for free with all accounts and has paid options starting at $0.99/month for 50GB, going up to 2TB for $9.99.

During the WWDC21, Apple announced iCloud+, the service that includes three new features without charging more from its users. It’s available with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS 12 Monterey.

Private Relay is the headlining new feature of iCloud+. Through Private Relay, all traffic leaving your device is encrypted and sent through two separate relays. Apple says that no one, not even Apple, can access or view this data. This feature sounds quite a bit like an Apple VPN.
Hide My Email is a new feature built into Mail, Safari, and other services and it allows you to randomized, unique emails that forward to your main account. This means you can hide your email from services for increased privacy.
iCloud+ also includes unlimited HomeKit Secure Video cameras. Currently, iCloud users are limited to five cameras per account, but this limit has been removed for iCloud+.

With iOS 15, Apple also lets users customize their own domain with iCloud, as you can learn more about it here.

Here’s everything you need to know about iCloud.

There are a few options to sign up for Apple One. If you’re using an iPhone with iOS 15, an iPad with iPadOS 15, or a Mac with macOS Monterey, just click here. It’s also possible to search for Apple One on your device or go to:

Settings > Account > Manage Subscriptions

Apple says that if it will save you money, the company will automatically recommend an Apple One plan when you sign up for individual Apple services, based on the services you already have.

Which device and operating system do I need for every service?

Apple One services work across your Apple devices:

iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 14 or later;
iPad with iPadOS 14 or later;
Apple TV with tvOS 14 or later;
Mac with macOS Big Sur 11.1 or later.

Apple Fitness+ for instance requires an Apple Watch Series 3 or later. It’s possible to access Apple Music and Apple TV+ through Android devices or web apps.

Can I get more iCloud storage?

Yes, you can. It’s possible to have 4TB of iCloud storage with the Apple One plus a standalone iCloud subscription. As already explained, every Apple One plan comes with a different storage option for iCloud. If you need more, you can pay extra:

$0.99/month for 50GB;
$2.99/month for 200GB
$9.99/month for 2TB.

Apple One Premier expansion

After announcing that 15 new regions would receive Apple Fitness+ support in November, Apple said it would bring Apple One Premier to 17 new countries. The priciest bundle plan offers 2TB of iCloud storage but, technically, what stopped Apple from commercializing this plan to more regions was the lack of Apple News+ support.

Currently, Apple One Premier is also available in Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UAE even without Apple News+.

With that, users can get Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple Fitness+, and 2TB of iCloud in a single subscription and share with up to 6 family members.

Rumors

So far, there are rumors about Apple expanding the number of services available. A report by The Economist believes Apple could launch by the end of 2022 an audiobook subscription.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also corroborates that the company could expand its Apple One bundle to make it more attractive to more users:

The next thing I believe Apple can do to grow services is to better integrate them. Right now, Apple One makes sense for consumers because of the discounts, but Apple’s individual offerings really don’t integrate with one another in the same way that an iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch all play nicely.
Apple could address this by integrating Apple TV+ with iTunes Movies. For instance, the company could throw in a few free rentals a month with a TV+ subscription. That could solve the back catalog problem and make the monthly fee more valuable. Another idea possibility is requiring a TV+ subscription to access podcasts about TV+ shows in the Podcasts app.

Read more:

Comment: As Spotify raises its prices, Apple One becomes an even more tempting bundle
How much money can you save with the Apple One subscription bundle?

Does subscribing to Apple One cancel Apple Music?

If you already subscribe to Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple Arcade or Apple TV+, you don't need to cancel those subscriptions. They will be cancelled automatically when you're billed for Apple One.

What happens if I switch to Apple One?

Apple One comes in three tiers: Individual: For $15 per month, you get Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50 gigabytes of iCloud storage for one person. Family: For $20 per month, you get Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 200 GB of iCloud storage, plus you can share access with up to five other people.

What is the benefit of Apple One?

Apple One includes the best services to keep you entertained and informed, as well as iCloud storage for your photos, files, and more. Services include Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud+, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+. Where do I find it, and how do I sign up? You have a few options.

What happens to my storage If I unsubscribe to Apple One?

If the iCloud storage included in Apple One is more than your current plan. Your current iCloud+ plan is canceled and you'll receive a pro-rated refund. Your total iCloud storage will be the amount included in your Apple One subscription.