The Apple TV price hike took effect on 28 August 2026, lifting the monthly subscription from $12.99 to $14.99 and the annual plan from $99 to $119. It is, by Variety‘s count, the fourth time Apple has raised the price in four years.
When Apple TV launched in 2019 at $4.99 per month, the company positioned it as the affordable alternative to Netflix and Disney+. The monthly fee has now tripled from that launch price, a 200% increase, and has risen 50% in the past two years alone, according to TidBITS.
Existing subscribers will receive roughly one month’s notice before the new rate appears on their bill, Variety reports.
The Apple TV Price Hike Fits a Pattern of Broader Apple Cost Increases
The streaming increase does not sit in isolation. CNBC reports that Apple raised Apple Music prices by $1 per month in July 2026, citing licensing costs. The Verge notes that Apple also raised prices on almost all of its devices earlier in 2026 and is reportedly planning increases to AppleCare Plus subscriptions as well.
Apple One, the bundle combining Apple TV, Music, iCloud+, and Arcade, has risen to $21.95 per month for the Individual plan, up from $19.95. The Family plan now stands at $27.95 per month and the Premier plan at $39.95 per month, according to Apple’s Apple One page. At $21.95, the Individual bundle saves subscribers $13 per month, or 31%, compared with buying each service separately at their current prices.
TidBITS points out a quirk in the pricing structure: the annual Apple TV plan no longer follows Apple’s typical pattern of pricing the yearly option at ten times the monthly rate. At $119 per year against a $14.99 monthly fee, the annual discount is narrower than the old formula would imply, a shift that began with the previous increase to $12.99 per month in August 2025.
What the Service Now Offers at That Price
Apple has been adding content to justify the escalating cost. The platform has aired live sports, including Formula 1, MLB, and Major League Soccer, and premiered the fourth season of Ted Lasso in the weeks before the August increase, according to The Verge. New-device buyers still receive a free three-month trial, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Even so, $14.99 per month is real money in a market where competition was supposed to keep prices anchored.
Apple Is Not Alone: Rivals Are Also Lifting Prices
The broader streaming landscape is repricing simultaneously. Netflix raised its Standard plan by $2 to $19.99 per month and its Premium plan by $2 to $26.99 in March 2026. Paramount+ moved earlier, adding $1 to each tier in January 2026, bringing its Essential plan to $9 per month and its Premium plan to $14 per month, TidBITS reports.
Peacock is raising its ad-supported tier from $10.99 to $12.99 per month, with its most expansive plan climbing $3 to $19.99, timed ahead of the new NBA and NFL seasons, according to the Los Angeles Times. ESPN’s streaming service is also moving: its unlimited plan rises from $29.99 to $31.99 per month from September, with the annual cost climbing from $299.99 to $319.99.
The collective effect is a meaningful shift in the cost of holding a full suite of streaming subscriptions. A household carrying Netflix Premium, Apple TV, Peacock’s top plan, and ESPN unlimited would now pay roughly $100 per month for those four services alone, before any bundle discounts.
Whether subscribers absorb the increases or begin consolidating their services is the question the next few quarterly churn figures will answer. Apple’s September 9 iPhone event, expected to include the company’s first foldable model, will hand the company a fresh wave of new-device sign-ups and three-month trials. The real test of the $14.99 price point comes once those trials expire.
