Apple One: The Perfect Services Bundle For 2022
Don’t buy the bundle now. Buy it in 2022
Apple launched a bundle for its services lineup, adding to the existing lineup, a new Health-related service called Fitness+.
Fitness+ is a direct competitor to Peloton’s Apple Watch app, which has seen great success among fitness enthusiasts. Apple has created a new fitness studio to produce content such as tutorials, explainer videos, and work along videos to help you work out anywhere.
So far, Apple has six subscription services, and this is how much they cost per month.
- Apple Music — $9.99
- Apple TV+ — $4.99
- Apple Arcade — $4.99
- iCloud — $0.99, $2.99, $9.99
- Apple News+ — $9.99
- Apple Fitness+ — $9.99
Apple Music
Apple Music has the most extensive collection of music, with 70 million songs on its database. You can find almost any song you want on here.
Apart from that, it offers curated playlists and Apple’s radio stations. There are also many playlists created by Apple for different moods and activities.
If you have other Apple devices, you can listen to them on every device. I do have to mention that, unfortunately, there is no continuity feature for Music in iOS 13.
As much as the Apple ecosystem is known for the convenience of owning more than one Apple device, Music is not a benefactor of such a feature. What makes it worse is than Apple can detect when you play music on more than one device, but they don’t let you continue playing from that device as Spotify does.
That said, I think for the number of songs and high-quality music steaming alone, its an excellent reason to go with Apple’s music service.
Apple TV+
Apple boasts how they already have 18 Emmy nominations, and this is just the start. I have to admit, the quality of the shows is fantastic.
Almost every show has a unique story and approach to concepts, and I feel that most of them are truly meaningful.
From the entertainment standpoint, its great TV. I’m sure you are already aware of See starring Jason Momoa and The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell.
There are many more Shows that are very interesting to watch. Apple has focused on quality rather than quantity, and that deserves an appreciation.
Unfortunately for them, most people prefer a large amount of content with a decent quality rather than the best quality. It’s something we have seen in many fields, not just TV.
Take Medium, for example. It’s better to have 25 articles that are good than five amazingly written articles.
With more content, the chances of reaching more people who wouldn’t otherwise bat an eye is greater. That’s how Netflix has become a staple for entertainment; they have something for everyone.
But as time passes, Apple is adding more content to the TV+ service. That’s why if you wait till 2022, there would be something for everyone.
Apple has enough funds to produce content, so you can rest assured they got your back. If you bought a new Apple device this year, there’s a good chance you got the free 1-year membership to Apple TV+ and maybe even took it for a test drive. But there’s space for a lot more content to be put up.
Apple Arcade
Gaming is a massive part of the future. The gaming industry is continuously evolving, and more people are finding it easier to get in on the fun.
Video games went from something just geeks play to something your grandma probably plays when she’s bored.
Smartphones have made it so convenient to download and install apps that anyone who has one will have at one point downloaded and played a game.
But there are so many games that require a lot of CPU and GPU processing. These highly intensive games need gaming PCs and laptops, usually fitted with very high specced processors to run the games without dropping frames or lagging.
Google’s solution to this problem was cloud computing for gaming. Using Google’s cloud infrastructure, they would make playing games as easy as streaming videos from youtube.
Think about it. When you’re playing video games on a gaming PC, this is what happens.
1. You input commands by pressing keys and moving your mouse.
2. The processor converts these signals to something the game engine can read.
3. The game engine uses these commands to calculate your character’s actions.
4. The game engine outputs the effect of your commands in video form.
5. Your PC outputs the video to your screen.
The steps that require your PC to work hard are 2, 3 and 4. If Google can take care of those steps, all your PC needs to do is understand what keys you’re pressing and show you a video from Google.
That’s something any low-end laptop can do, making it easier to play massive games on literally any phone, laptop, Chromebook, tablet, or even your TV.
On the other hand, Apple created a gaming service that offers completely new titles that you can play on any iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV.
The idea is to create a new range of games that are not available on other platforms. More importantly, they are designed for Apple’s devices.
But to get great graphics and high intensive games running smoothly, we require a lot of processing power.
Luckily for Apple Arcade, the developers have access to Apple’s tools, such as Metal, SceneKit, and more explicitly designed to make the games and apps run smoothly on Apple’s Operating Systems.
Even then, many of the games on Apple Arcade are not as intensive as the most popular titles in the PC and Console gaming sector.
Apple is trying to win the market that doesn’t play intensive games and doesn’t have the time or dedication to sit in front of a gaming PC for 10 hours straight.
Taking a look at the games on Apple Arcade, and as the name suggests, these are more or less simpler and easy to play games.
Apple says that there are over 100 games on its service, and some are actually really good. But just like Apple TV+, it might not be for you. By 2022, Apple Arcade would have a good enough collection to please everyone, well, almost everyone.
iCloud Storage
Apple has provided cloud storage services for a long time, and although it’s great for people who need a lot of space and privacy for their photos, it’s not for everyone.
I, for example, would buy an SSD or HDD that can store much more data and keep a backup of my photos there instead of paying a lot for Apple’s cloud service.
Another popular solution is to use Google Photos for free unlimited storage if you are not concerned about its quality. Many people who switch from Android to iOS usually do this because it’s already synced to their Google account.
Although many things might not change in 2022 for iCloud, getting 2TB of online storage with a bundle is excellent news.
Apple News+
Apple News+ is Apple’s app to show you the latest news and articles from magazines you love. I’m not sure a lot of people use Apple News+.
But with so much misinformation and fake news all around, maybe it’s reliable sources that we need the most, and Apple News+ offers precisely that.
I don’t use Apple News+, and maybe I might change my mind if I start using it, but as an added bonus to the Premier bundle, I wouldn’t say no to it either.
Apple Fitness+
2020 is the year to work out, from the tech available to track your performance to the tutorials for each activity to the nutrition options, there’s really no reason not to work out.
Despite that, a large portion of people, including myself, do not work out daily. A few times a week is when most people work out, but consistency is key in the fitness game.
Subscribing to a fitness service is putting money where our mouth is. Moreover, paying $9.99 a month is a good enough motivational factor for most to use a service designed to help you become healthy.
In the coming years, we will see a lot more tech designed to make it easier for you to work out. Apple wants to get ahead and brand the “keep yourself fit” train.
With Apple’s new studio, they have the potential to create courses and content to help you work out better.
At launch, you can access ten types of workouts with more being added as time passes.
Apple Fitness+ will be very easy to access and use that a lot of people will adopt it as their primary fitness service. Add the tracking features from Apple Watch, and its a perfect combo.
Bundle Options
Apple has introduced three different bundle options.
As the name suggests, the Individual bundle is one account access to Apple’s Music, TV+, Arcade, and iCloud 50GB services. Unless you are getting only Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, it’s better to get the bundle and enjoy the 50 GB of extra iCloud storage.
The Family bundle is great for sharing between 2 or more accounts and will be the most popular among people who aren’t the biggest fans of Apple’s fitness service. It’s a great deal considering you can have up to 5 accounts, and you get 200 gigs of iCloud storage.
But the most value would be the Premier bundle if you and the other members on the family plan all have Apple Watches and use all the six services provided by Apple. It also has an incredibly discounted price of $29.95, where you save $25 per month if you bought the bundle instead of all of the six services separately. In this bundle, you get a whopping 2TB online storage, which is incredible and extremely useful.
Apple One for Students
Apple has always made it very affordable for students to use their services. With an Apple Music subscription costing $4.99, you also get access to Apple TV+ at no extra cost. That’s wonderful for students!
This could mean that Apple would probably silently launch a Student bundle, or they would continue the current student bundle as is.
I think it would be great to see an Apple One bundle for students that includes access to Apple Fitness+. Maybe bump up the price to $7.99 a month. You can either pay $4.99 for Apple Music only or $7.99 for Apple Music, TV+, and Fitness+. What do you think?
Either way, I think Apple would do something special for students and silently launch a bundle for the younger demographic.
Takeaway
Right now, there are a few good services offered by Apple that are worth your money. But by 2022, Apple would have refined a lot of its services with more content, and then it would be the best services bundle anyone has to offer. The Premier being the most value for your money, would be a great seller for families. So save your money and purchase it later. You will love what’s in store.
