Have you ever wondered if Apple‘s subscription bundle called the Apple One Family plan is worth the monthly cost? As an Apple user myself, I‘ve done a deep dive on what‘s included, how it compares to buying individually, who it works best for, and whether it ultimately offers good value.
My goal is to provide straightforward, practical advice to help you determine if the Apple One Family plan fits your household‘s needs and budget. Let‘s get started!
What Does The Apple One Family Plan Include?
First, a quick overview of what types of services you actually get with an Apple One Family subscription:
- 200GB of iCloud storage
- Apple Music
- Apple TV+ video
- Apple Arcade games
- Family sharing for up to 5 people
You can think of it kind of like a cable TV bundle, but swapping out home phone, internet, and hundreds of channels for useful Apple goodies instead.
Rather than paying for each of those items separately every month, you get them in one tidy package at a discounted overall rate. Pretty handy!
Now let‘s examine how the Family plan specifically stacks up against Apple‘s other offerings.
Comparing The Apple One Plan Types Side-By-Side
Apple One comes in Individual, Family, and Premier tiers. Here‘s an at-a-glance view of how they differ across some key categories:
| Individual Plan | Family Plan | Premier Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price Per Month | $16.95 | $22.95 | $32.95 |
| iCloud Storage | 50GB | 200GB | 2TB |
| Maximum Users | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Apple Music | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple TV+ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple Arcade | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple News+ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Apple Fitness+ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
As you can see, the mid-range Family plan nets you quite a storage boost over the entry-level tier with 4x the iCloud allowance. But it stops short of the full package that Premier provides.
Let‘s explore what you gain (and give up) by choosing Family over Individual or Premier.
Calculating The Value of Apple One Family Plan Services
Whenever you sign up to receive multiple products or services bundled together, it‘s smart to price out what each component would cost individually. That way you know if you‘re actually saving any money compared to buying separately.
Let‘s break down the value you gain through the main services packed into an Apple One Family subscription.
iCloud Storage
- 200GB shared storage
- Retails for $2.99 per month
- Family plan includes $2.99 of value
iCloud serves as the backbone for keeping all your photos, documents, backups, and other digital data synced across your Apple gadgets.
Shelling out for 200GB on its own would cost you nearly $3 every month. Right off the bat you‘re saving money over the normal fees.
And 200GB goes a long way for average households. It has room for:
- 160,000 photos
- 100 hours of video
- 200,000 documents
Unless you have an absolutely massive photo library or a ton of large videos, 200GB should suit most families with a bit of room to grow.
Apple Music
- Song catalog of over 90 million
- Normal fee is $10.99 per month
- Brings nearly $11 in monthly value
Apple Music gives you unlimited, ad-free access to a huge library of tunes for streaming. We‘re talking about 90 million songs – on par with Spotify‘s catalog size.
This full-featured music subscription would normally run $11 monthly if bought by itself. So tack that onto the value meter.
Apple Music also brings better audio quality than competitors, especially for spatial audio tracks. So you get both quantity and quality.
Apple TV+
- Exclusive shows and movies
- Regular standalone price is $6.99 per month
- Adds extra $7 in monthly savings
As a streaming video option, Apple TV+ sits somewhere between Netflix and Disney+. The service includes a smaller selection of content compared to the endless libraries of those companies.
But its lineup consists 100% of high quality Apple originals rather than a giant pile of filler titles. We‘re talking Emmy award winning shows like Ted Lasso, Severance, and Mythic Quest. Plus buzzy movies like CODA, Emancipation, and Spirited.
If you don‘t already have a preferred video streaming provider, then Apple TV+ at a $7 monthly value is a nice bonus. However, you may still want to supplement with something like Netflix or Hulu depending on your tastes.
Apple Arcade
- 200+ games
- $4.99 every month normally
- Brings nearly $5 more value
Apple Arcade grants unlimited access to over 200 top-tier mobile games spanning various genres from action to adventure to puzzle and more. New games get added monthly too.
These games are all exclusive to Arcade and offer full, uninterrupted game play without ads or in-app purchases getting in the way. It‘s a terrific option for households wanting excellent mobile entertainment.
Purchased standalone, an Apple Arcade membership costs right around $5 per month – so pile on more savings.
Total Bundled Value
When you add up all of those components, here is the total retail value you receive by signing up for Apple One Family each month:
- iCloud 200GB: $2.99
- Apple Music: $10.99
- Apple TV+: $6.99
- Apple Arcade: $4.99
- Total Value: $25.96
And this all comes your way for the locked-in price of $22.95 monthly! By bundling separately you save nearly $3 extra per month ($35 annually). It‘s not a huge markdown, but every bit helps.
You also benefit from the convenience of having all these services unified in one place for simpler access, payments, and sharing.
Which Types of Households Should Consider The Family Plan?
Now that you know what‘s packed into the Apple One Family plan, who is it actually ideal for? Based on the capabilities and limitations compared to the Individual and Premier offerings, the Family tier hits the best sweet spot for:
- Families with 2-4 members on Apple devices
- Parents restricting kids‘ access
- First-time streaming subscribers
- Photo storage up to 200GB
Essentially, mid-sized households full of Apple users get prime value from Family plan sharing privileges. It can streamline entertainment and storage for parents while also keeping things strictly child-appropriate.
For instance, mothers and fathers can leverage Apple Arcade as a source of fun games for kids without pesky ads or ability to make in-app purchases. The titles also tend to rate on the more family-friendly end for gameplay themes and content.
Plus Apple TV+ becomes a nice option for video content you feel comfortable letting the whole household watch. Most titles match closer to a PG-13 rating with only minor language and violence.
What Types of Users Might Want Other Apple One Plans Instead?
While the Family tier strikes a nice balance, it admittedly doesn‘t work for everyone. In certain use cases, one of the other Apple One plans may suit your needs better:
Good for Individual Plan
- Single person households
- Couples content with 50GB storage
- Tight budgets
Good for Premier Plan
- Households with 5+ people
- Storage needs above 200GB
- Existing News+ subscribers
- Fitness buffs
Single users don‘t benefit much from family sharing capabilities. And digital hoarders needing abundant storage might feel constrained. In those situations, it makes sense to look at the more specialized Individual or Premier offerings instead.
The key is sticking to the tier with just enough iCloud capacity and service inclusions to cover your household‘s membership numbers and regular usage.
Apple Device Compatibility For The Family Plan
Since we are talking about Apple One here, you‘re probably wondering whether it strictly requires ownership of the company‘s various hardware to use the bundled services.
The answer is yes – you do need Apple gadgets to take full advantage of subscriptions like Apple Music, TV+, Arcade, etc.
However, compatibility spans across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and more. Plus you often can access content across devices, like starting a show on your iPhone then sending it to your smart TV.
Here is a breakdown of the minimum device and software requirements for full access:
- iPhone: iOS 15.6
- iPad: iPadOS 15.6
- Mac: macOS 12 Monterey
- Apple TV: tvOS 15.6
As long as your Apple devices are running current OS versions, you should have all the bells and whistles enabled. Streaming, syncing, offline playback, and downloads work best on the latest software.
So when it comes time to upgrade gadgets in your household, try to stick with models from the last 3-5 years if possible.
Apple One Family Plan – Pros vs Cons
Before deciding if the Apple One Family edition fits your situation, let‘s recap a few key high level pros and cons:
Pros
- Saves ~$3/month over standalone plans
- Everything unified in one subscription
- Family sharing for up to 5 people
- 200GB shared iCloud storage
- Hefty catalog via Apple Music
- Original video content from Apple TV+
- Ad and in-app purchase free games
Cons
- Requires ownership of Apple devices
- Less overall content than leading competitors (Netflix etc)
- Upcharges apply for overages like storage
There‘s no denying the Family tier brings nice bundled savings over the normal fees. And it removes hassles by combining payments and management into one license.
But you do lose some flexibility – like the ability to freely switch music services month-to-month. And Apple‘s libraries simply can‘t compete sheerly by size with the Goliaths like Netflix, Spotify, etc.
If you already pay for enough subscriptions though, consolidation becomes nice perk.
Final Verdict – Apple One Family Plan Worth It?
When weighing everything the Apple One Family plan has working for and against it, is it ultimately worth the $23 monthly investment?
My verdict: yes – for the right type of household.
You need at least 2-3 people actively using Apple devices to maximize the benefits. But for a family centered around iPhones, Macs, and iPads anyway, it bundles some nice entertainment value.
The family sharing, ad-free Apple Arcade, and 200GB of iCloud storage together make the Apple One plan a bit of a no brainer if you have kids gaming and taking endless photos.
And trying it for free for a month is a great way to experience the perks firsthand across your Apple gadgets before committing.
In your household, assess your true need for subscriptions like music and video streaming if you don‘t already have them. Determine how much storage space you require for all those selfies. And think about how much mileage kids would get from Apple Arcade titles.
If those pieces add up to make the math work, then embracing an Apple One Family plan means simplified billing plus fun access to games, tunes, shows and cloud backups. All for a reasonable bundled price point.
So why not give it a shot and see if the convenience and savings are worth it for your family?
I hope this overview gives you new insight into what the Apple One Family tier provides compared to standalone plans and competitive services. Let me know if you have any other questions!
