Apple TV Plus free trial period drops from one year to three months

Starting July 1, subscribers will only get three months of free service with their device purchase, down from a full year.

Rae Hodge Former senior editor

Rae Hodge was a senior editor at CNET. She led CNET's coverage of privacy and cybersecurity tools from July 2019 to January 2023. As a data-driven investigative journalist on the software and services team, she reviewed VPNs, password managers, antivirus software, anti-surveillance methods and ethics in tech. Prior to joining CNET in 2019, Rae spent nearly a decade covering politics and protests for the AP, NPR, the BBC and other local and international outlets.

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Rae Hodge

June 16, 2021 7:05 a.m. PT

Starting July 1, Apple will reduce the length of its Apple TV Plus free trial period from a year to just three months for those customers who buy an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod Touch or Mac. Although the change to the promotion length was previously known, the change appeared on the company's website this week, which now offers one free year of service only to those who subscribe and purchase a qualifying device before June 30.

As CNET's Joan Solsman notes, one analyst estimates that 62% of Apple TV Plus accounts are in the promotional period. After the trial period expires, the service costs $5 a month. Earlier this year, Apple TV Plus announced that the second season of one of its headlining original shows, Ted Lasso, would not premier until July 23.