My 2 cents on the surprisingly affordable deals from Apple
Apple held another of its product introduction events last Tuesday. While the brief (for Apple) onehour broadcast focused on hardware, it also included a couple of surprising announcements about Apple’s subscription service offerings.
While I am (of course) quite interested in the new hardware — iPad, iPad Air, Apple Watch 6 and Apple Watch SE — I won’t waste your time regurgitating their new features (visit www.apple.com). Rest assured, I’ll have much to say, but not until after I’ve spent quality time putting them through their paces.
For what it’s worth, there were no major surprises in the new hardware: all new models are faster, brighter and more capable than their predecessors, with a smattering of new features.
On the other hand, the two related announcements regarding Apple’s subscription service offerings surprised the heck out of me.
The first was an all-new service built for the Apple Watch called Apple Fitness +, which integrates metrics gathered by your Apple Watch with workouts viewed on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.
Workouts are set to include Cycling, Treadmill, Rowing, Strength, Yoga, Dance, Core and more, with new workouts delivered every week. And for those new to exercise, there’s an Absolute Beginner
program built in that purports to coach you on the basics of movement and exercise while getting you ready for the real Fitness + workouts. Finally, many of the workouts can be done with no additional gear or with just a set of dumbbells.
Apple Fitness+ is priced at $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year with a one-month free trial available to all.
Or, buy any new Series 3 or later Apple Watch and receive a free three-month trial.
I’ll tell you more once I’ve had a chance to try it.
While I was surprised by Apple Fitness +, I was even more surprised at Apple’s second subscription service-related product, Apple One, which is a bundle with some or all of Apple’s subscription service offerings — Apple Music,
Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud — at a lower price.
There are three Apple One plans:
• The Individual plan (for one person) includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, plus 50GB of iCloud storage for $14.99 a month.
• The Family plan (for up to six family members) includes the same services as the Individual plan, plus 200GB of iCloud storage for $19.99 a month.
• The Premier plan (for up to six family members) includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and 2TB of iCloud storage for $29.95 a month.
The Premier plan is a no-brainer for me. I pay $14.99 a month for Apple Music, $9.99 a month for two TB of iCloud storage and $4.99 a month for Apple TV +, for a total of $29.97/month. With the Premier plan, we’ll pay just 2 cents more to have Apple News + ($9.99 a month) and Apple Fitness + ($9.99 a month).
Such a deal!