Apple TV Now Costs $14.99 a Month, and the Annual Plan Took the Bigger Hit

The annual plan is where this one bites. Apple raised US prices for its Apple TV streaming service today: $14.99 a month, up from $12.99, and $119 a year, up from $99. The monthly bill went up about 15%, and the yearly one went up 20%.

Apple didn't send a press release. Its Apple TV page now lists $14.99 a month after a seven-day trial, and points to Apple One "starting at $21.95," which confirms the Individual bundle went up two dollars as well, and Apple's own marketing pages don't list a yearly price at all.

What a year of Apple TV costs now

Pay monthly for twelve months and you're out $179.88. Pay for the year up front and it's $119, or $9.92 a month. The gap between the two ways of paying is about $61, up from roughly $57 before today.

So the annual plan is still the better deal by a wide margin. It also took the bigger increase, 20 percent in one move, and that increase lands on the people who already committed to a full year.

If you're already subscribed

Apple told 9to5Mac that existing subscribers get notified about a month before they're charged the new rate, so the renewal notice is the thing to watch for. New signups pay $14.99 starting now.

In October 2023, Apple let people lock in the old annual rate by switching billing before the change landed. Nothing like that has been announced this time, and Apple hasn't published a page laying out how current subscribers are handled beyond that month of notice. If you want certainty about your own renewal date and rate, open the Subscriptions screen in Settings and check the date yourself.

All of this is US pricing. Apple hasn't announced changes for other countries, and I can't confirm whether other regions are getting the same treatment.

The price ladder since 2019

Apple TV launched in November 2019 at $4.99 a month. It went to $6.99 in October 2022, $9.99 in October 2023, and $12.99 last August. Today it's $14.99. That's three times the launch price in under seven years.

The annual plan has moved less often. It went from $69 to $99 in October 2023, then held there through last summer, when Apple raised the monthly rate and left the yearly plan alone. Two years of nothing, then 20 percent.

The second Apple bill increase in six weeks

Apple Music went up on July 17: Individual from $10.99 to $11.99, Family from $16.99 to $19.99, Student from $5.99 to $6.99. Apple One Family went to $27.95 and Premier to $39.95 in the same round, while Individual held at $19.95. Today's move fills in the one that was skipped, taking Apple One Individual to $21.95.

Anyone paying for Apple One Premier has now absorbed two separate increases in six weeks. We wrote up the Apple Music round in July if you want that breakdown.

What the extra money buys

Nothing was announced alongside the increase. No new tier, no bundle, no added feature, and no explanation from Apple beyond the new numbers on its storefront. The catalog has grown a great deal since 2019, which is the strongest argument for charging more, and Apple seems content to let that argument make itself.

What still hasn't arrived is a cheaper way in. Apple TV has no ad-supported tier, the option Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max all built for people who balk at the top-line price. Apple's version of a discount is the annual plan, and the annual plan is the one that went up 20 percent.

Whether to keep it

If you watch two or three Apple shows a year and let the subscription lapse in between, keep doing exactly that. At $14.99 a month, dipping in and out is now the cheaper habit. If it runs year-round in your house, take the $119 and stop thinking about it.

Apple has raised this price four times in four years. $14.99 doesn't look like the number it intends to stop at.