Apple has pushed through big price increases for its services worldwide, including in South Africa, with the cost of its streaming video platform, Apple TV+, soaring by 47% locally.
The significant price increases for South African consumers include:
- Apple TV+, jumping from R84.99 to R124.99/month – an increase of 47%;
- Apple Music, climbing from R59.99 to R69.99/month – an increase of 16.7%;
- Apple Music Family plan, jumping from R89.99 to R109.99/month – and increase of 22.2%; and
- Apple One, jumping from R139.99 to R179.99/month — an increase of 28.6%. The Family plan is now R229.99/month.
The dramatic jump in prices comes after Apple announced on Monday that it was increasing its services pricing in the US and other markets.
The company increased the price of Apple Music in the US to $10.99/month from $9.99 before. The price of TV+ climbed to $6.99 from $4.99, and the standard Apple One bundle increased to $16.95 from $14.95.
Apple One bundles for families went from $19.95 to $22.95, while the Premier package, which adds News+, Fitness+ and additional storage on top of Arcade, Music and TV+, went to $32.95 from $29.95 (this bundle is not available in South Africa).
The changes mark the first price increases to the services since they launched.
Apple said in a statement that the music price hike “is due to an increase in licensing costs” and that artists and songwriters will now earn more money.
Read: Forget about the car: Apple should make an e-bike
The company said that Apple TV+, meanwhile, was introduced “at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies”. The service is now “home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers”, Apple said. – © 2022 NewsCentral Media, with additional reporting © 2022 Bloomberg LP
