Apple’s streaming service today is doing something even rarer: a promotion.
To celebrate the release of “The Banker,” a new film about two real-life businessmen who helped finance African American businesses in the Jim Crow era, Apple TV+ is dropping its subscription fee to $5.99 per month from $12.99 for six months.
The offer is for new and qualified returning subscribers and is a month-to-month plan that comes out to around $36 for six months, with no long-term contracts.
How the Apple TV+ six-month promotional deal works
The deal is open to new or lapsed subscribers who have not had an active subscription in the past 30 days. You can sign up only through Apple directly — in the Apple TV app on the firm’s own hardware, or on the web. If you typically subscribe through third-party distributors, like Amazon’s Prime Video Channels or service bundles, the discount will not be applicable.
Android users not seeing the promotion in the Android app can still redeem it by initiating their subscription on the web and then signing back into the app. When activated, you’ll be able to watch on all major devices and platforms, including:
- Android
- Google TV
- Roku
- Amazon Fire TV Stick and Fire TV
- Apple TV
- PlayStation 4
- Xbox One
Billing continues at the reduced monthly $5.99 rate for six cycles. If you won’t be sticking around at the full $12.99-per-month price after that, mark your calendar to cancel before the seventh month hits.
What to watch on Apple TV+ during your six-month deal
Six months is more than enough time to burn through the platform’s buzziest originals. The workplace thriller Severance has become something of a word-of-mouth hit, while the feel-good sports comedy Ted Lasso continues to find new fans. Pluribus is the latest new offering in this vein, which also includes such fare as The Morning Show, Silo, and Foundation.
Quality is the calling card. The Television Academy rewarded the service with 10 Emmy wins in the most recent awards cycle, and despite a smaller catalog footprint compared to bigger rivals, Apple’s original slate routinely punches above its weight. For viewers who graze on attention-grabbing series and prestige films, six cheap months could comfortably span several full seasons and limited series, without the backlog fatigue endemic to far grander platforms.
Why this discount matters in an era of streaming price hikes
Apple recently raised the standard monthly price of its streaming service to $12.99, part of a wider wave of subscription hikes in the industry. Promotional pricing like this tends to surface around the holidays, when platforms vie for attention and gift-card redemptions — as well as annual shopping goals — spike.
Consumer analytics companies such as Antenna have recorded monthly churn rates well above those of a year ago at the premium streaming services in the U.S., and those figures have more or less plateaued in the mid-single digits. Reactivation or win-back among lapsed subscribers is a demonstrated lever to combat churn and simulate trial for new tentpole series. For budget-conscious households juggling multiple subscriptions, a 50%+ discount for a limited time is a transparent nudge to add Apple TV+ into the mix.
The savings are simple: six months at full price would be about $77.94, while the promotion costs roughly $35.94, a difference of around $42. That’s essentially the cost of a second premium service for a month or two, which explains why discounted windows are often correlated with spikes in sign-ups.
The fine print and smart tips to maximize this offer
There are some key exclusions: third-party billing routes aren’t eligible, and if you’ve been an active subscriber in the last month there’s a good chance you won’t qualify. And it’s only available for a limited time, with regular pricing returning after the sixth month.
Pro tip for optimizers of deals: start with a flagship series so you don’t leave the discount on the table, stack your viewing with another show to span the full six-month term, and set yourself a calendar reminder before the renewal date to reevaluate. If the answer is yes, ask yourself whether you are more likely to find value in annual options or device-bundle promos based on your watchlist.
Bottom line: If you were waiting for the perfect time to catch up on all the awards-laden originals that Apple has launched since it joined peak TV, this is the most wallet-friendly on-ramp the service has offered since its recent price hike — and it’s one that’s designed to make six months of nothing but prestige TV feel like a no-brainer.