Apple One is now available, but you shouldn’t subscribe yet

Apple’s new services bundle is live and is offering a 30 day free trial. If you’re interested in any of the included services, it ends up being a great value, but now is not the right time to sign up. Here’s why.

First, some background just in case you aren’t aware of what this bundle is all about. At their September event, Apple announced a new services bundle called Apple One that lets customers subscribe to multiple services and save a little money. Despite the the singular nature of the bundle’s name, there are actually three different tiers to consider.

The Individual plan costs $14.95 per month and includes:

• Apple Music

• Apple TV+

• Apple Arcade

• 50GB iCloud storage plan

That’s a $6/month savings over paying for those services separately.

The Family plan costs $19.95 per month and includes:

• Apple Music

• Apple TV+

• Apple Arcade

• 200GB iCloud storage plan

This plan lets you share these services with up to 5 people (family or not), and works out to an $8 savings per month.

By far the best value is the top-tier Premier plan. It costs $29.95 per month and includes:

• Apple Music

• Apple TV+

• Apple Arcade

• Apple News+

• Apple Fitness+

• 2TB iCloud storage plan

All of these can be shared with up to 5 people. This tier works out to a $25/month savings.

Apple is currently offering a 30-day free trial on any of the plans, so it seems like a great time to sign up and start using these services to see if you like them. But…not so fast.

As a giant Apple nerd, my instinct was to jump on the Premier plan. I’m already paying $15/month for the Apple Music family plan and $10/month for the 2TB iCloud storage plan. For another $5, I’d be adding TV+, Arcade, News+, and Fitness+.

But here’s the catch: Fitness+ is still listed as “Coming late 2020.” There’s no solid info as to when it might launch, so there’s no telling if you’ll be able to use it during your free trial. Signing up for a trial of a service that isn’t even out yet just doesn’t make sense.

Also, an Apple Watch is required to use Fitness+. If you’re not an Apple Watch owner, you’re out of luck.

The other complication involves the surprising generosity Apple has shown with some of the other services. If you purchased a new device in late 2019, you were given a free 1-year trial of Apple TV+. Those were set to start expiring in September, but Apple decided to give everyone an extra 3 months. I checked my subscription status and my TV+ trial doesn’t expire until February 1, 2021.

On top of that, earlier this month Apple decided to start giving out 3-month trials of Apple Arcade. I went ahead and took advantage, so I currently have that service for free until January 24th, 2021.

I assume that if I sign up for the Premier bundle now, I would only have those services for free for 30 days rather than multiple months. So my incentive is gone.

You may or may not be in a similar boat. If you check your settings app, you might see the same Arcade trial offer waiting for you. If you’ve been using Apple TV+ on a free trial, you can check the expiration date by going to Settings > tap your name at the top > Subscriptions.

Even if you don’t currently have any active free trials, the main reason to hold off on the Premier plan is the delay of Fitness+. I can’t recommend signing up for an incomplete bundle of services, even if there is a 30-day free trial.

That said, if any of the lower-tier plans sound right for you, you can sign up right on your iPhone or iPad, again by going to Settings > your name > Subscriptions. I’ve been loving Apple Music for a few years, and TV+ has ramped up significantly in its relatively short life. Honestly, it’s worth it just for Ted Lasso, but shows like Mythic Quest, Defending Jacob, The Morning Show, and Servant make it a really great value. Arcade has a ton of interesting games, though I’ve only found a few that I want to play consistently. Your mileage may vary.

Once Fitness+ is available, I would wholeheartedly recommend the premier tier to anyone with an Apple Watch who’s interested in guided workouts. Find out all about Apple Fitness+ here.

What are your thoughts? Do you plan to sign up for any of the bundles? Do you have any active trials holding you back? Let me know in the comments!