Apple is giving customers who are getting the Apple TV Plus streaming service for free a few more months gratis.
The company said Thursday that for Apple TV Plus customers whose free 12-month free subscription is scheduled expire between Nov. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, they will continue have free access to the service through February 2021, an Apple rep confirmed. The service normally costs $4.99 monthly and billing will kick in next February (unless you cancel).
Meanwhile, for those who signed up for an Apple TV Plus monthly subscription prior Nov. 1, 2020, Apple will issue a $4.99 monthly credit for three months (applied in November, December and January 2021). News of Apple TV Plus extending the free subscription period was first reported by TechCrunch.
Apple TV Plus now includes more than 40 originals, including the “The Morning Show” — for which Billy Crudup won an Emmy for supporting actor — M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Servant,” documentary anthology series “Little America” from Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Lee Eisenberg, “Dickinson” starring Hailee Steinfeld, comedy series “Ted Lasso” starring Jason Sudekis, Bryce Dallas Howard’s documentary “Dads” and “The Oprah Conversation” with Oprah Winfrey.
When the tech giant launched Apple TV Plus last fall, it provided the 12-month free offer to Apple customers who purchase Any new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac capable of running the latest iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, or macOS purchased after Sept. 10, 2019. Customers have up to three months after first setting up their device to claim the offer.
Apple hasn’t broken out how many subscribers it’s signed up for Apple TV Plus, but analysts say most active users are on the free offer.
Bloomberg reported that Apple TV Plus had more than 10 million subscribers as of February 2020. Another estimate, from research firm Ampere Analysis, pegged Apple TV Plus’s subscriber count at 33.6 million U.S. users as of the end of 2019 but estimated that the “vast majority” were not paying subscribers.
