Moving to Apple One with existing Apple subscriptions

Earlier this year, when COVID-19 hit the UK and we were placed in lockdown, my wife an I needed some good watching to look forward to once the kids were in bed. We watched Twin Peaks (excellent for 1½ seasons) and have just finished The Sopranos (hands-down the best thing I’ve ever watched). The Wire is on our ‘to watch’ list, but we wanted something a bit more light hearted first.

When Ted Lasso debuted in the summer, I dismissed it out of hand: my wife really isn’t interested in sports, and I’m not really all that bothered. But as time has gone by and I’ve heard more reports of how good Ted Lasso is, and it felt like the right show to watch next. A tweet from Sophie Koonin, friend of Frontend NE, tipped the balance:

Unexpected TV gem alert: Ted Lasso on Apple TV. I’m not a football person but I am loving this, it’s delightful

Subscribing to Apple One

So we decided to cancel our NowTV (HBO) ‘Entertainment Pass’ and try Apple TV+ for a while.

I’m already an Apple Music Family plan subscriber, so I pay Apple £14.99 each month for that. Adding Apple TV+ would increase that by £4.99 to £19.98 per month. But for £19.95 I could get the Apple One Family plan to:

• continue with my Apple Music Family plan
• get Apple TV+
• get Apple Arcade (which I’ll probably never use)
• get some bundled iCloud storage
• save 3p

But there were a few things that weren’t clear when I went to sign up.

What happens to my existing Apple Music subscription?

If you have something that’s part of the bundle already, for example Apple Music, subscribing to Apple One replaces the existing subscription, so you don’t have to cancel it.

If you’re part way through a billing cycle for your existing subscription, you’ll automatically get a refund for the remaining part of the month. I received £1.93 back on my Apple Music family plan, with 4 days remaining in the month.

What about the free trials?

There’s usually a 7 day free trial for Apple TV+, and a month’s free trial for Apple One. If I’d bought Apple TV+ on its own I’d’ve probably go the 7 days, but since I was moving to the bundle with an existing subscription (Apple Music) I was charged immediately.

No free trial for Apple One if you’re already got one (or more) of the services in the bundle.

What happens to my existing iCloud storage?

I pay for 2TB of iCloud storage at the moment, and I was worried that I might be downgraded to 200GB and possibly lose some content that was stored on iCloud. But I took a leap of faith and it turns out the Apple One storage was simply added on top of my existing plan.

So iCloud storage works slightly differently to the Apple Music subscription: it doesn’t replace it, it’s added over and above what you already have. I continue to pay for 2TB and my Apple One plan has 200GB, so now have get 2.2TB.

So don’t be scared

Having had a poke around Apple documentation when checking a few details for this article, I spotted some information about the iCloud storage that I didn’t find at first. I don’t think Apple are being opaque, as more clarity would no doubt mean more uptake of Apple One, but the facts are tricky to find!

I hope this has helped clear up one or two questions you might have had about upgrading. Basically, go for it. If only for Ted Lasso: it’s brilliant!