Apple TV is raising its monthly subscription price to $14.99 in the United States, the latest move in a relentless string of rate increases that has more than tripled the service's cost since it launched. Variety reported the price change.
The new price, effective Friday, August 28, 2026, represents a two dollar increase from the current $12.99 monthly rate. The annual subscription has risen from $99 to $119, a jump of twenty dollars.
The individual tier of the Apple One bundle, which combines Apple TV, Apple Music, iCloud+ with 50 gigabytes of storage, and Apple Arcade, has also gone up from $19.95 to $21.95 per month.
Existing subscribers will receive notification roughly one month before the new price takes effect on their billing cycle, according to Apple.
This marks the fourth consecutive year Apple has increased the price of its streaming service. At launch in November 2019, Apple TV, then called Apple TV+, cost $4.99 per month. The price rose to $6.99 in 2022, $9.99 in 2023, $12.99 in August 2025, and now $14.99 in 2026. Deadline confirmed the new annual rate of $119.
Apple executives confirmed in July that viewership hit an all-time high during the previous quarter. The company does not break out specific subscriber numbers or streaming revenue figures, but its broader services division reported twelve percent year-over-year revenue growth to $30.7 billion in the June quarter.
The streamer has been building its content library aggressively. It now offers more than 300 original shows and movies, a dramatic expansion from the handful of titles available at launch.
Apple TV has been particularly successful this awards season, earning eighty-seven Emmy nominations led by the drama "Widow's Bay." Other nominated shows include "Severance," "The Studio," "Pluribus," "Slow Horses," "Your Friends & Neighbors," "Margo's Got Money Troubles," and "Shrinking." Season four of "Ted Lasso" is currently underway.
Original films on the platform include "CODA," which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and "F1: The Movie," starring Brad Pitt and ranking as the highest-grossing sports film of all time at the global box office. The service also streams live sports including Formula One races, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.
Apple's price increase arrives amid an industrywide wave of streaming rate hikes. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, and YouTube Premium have all raised their subscription prices over the past two years. NBCUniversal's Peacock increased its rates earlier this month, and ESPN is raising streaming prices effective September 17.
For now, Apple TV remains the only major premium streaming service without an ad-supported tier, which some analysts view as a competitive vulnerability. The service's reliance on its premium content library and integration with Apple's broader ecosystem has historically justified its pricing, but consumer tolerance for continuous increases remains limited.
The trend reflects a broader shift in the streaming business model. After years of subsidizing content to build subscriber bases, platforms are now focused on profitability, using price increases rather than advertising as the primary lever.
This strategy mirrors what happened with cable television in previous decades, when bundled services were initially introduced at low prices to gain market share before rates climbed steadily. Streaming subscribers today now manage an average of three to four separate subscriptions, a burden that some are beginning to push back against through shared accounts or subscription rotation.
Apple's decision to maintain a single, ad-free plan at a higher price point may either cement its positioning as a premium service or leave it exposed as competitors launch lower-cost alternatives. Industry observers will be watching whether Apple's content momentum can justify the increased cost to consumers.
For broader context on streaming industry developments, our reporting on the Michael Jackson biopic landing on Starz and Netflix content strategy provides additional perspective on the shifting landscape of digital entertainment distribution.