Apple is shortening new free TV Plus trials from a year to three months starting July 1st

In the push to be as well-known for services as it is for hardware and software, Apple has been generous with free trials, offering a year of Apple TV Plus for free and extending the offer multiple times. But soon that’s changing — starting July 1st, 2021, people who buy new Apple devices will only be offered three months of free video streaming rather than a year. After the trial is over, Apple TV Plus’ $4.99 per month subscription cost kicks in.

Apple’s not particularly forthcoming about this change, but it is listed in the fine print on the new Apple TV 4K product page (via The Loop’s executive editor Dave Mark) and in Apple’s official terms and conditions for the promotion. Specifically, the text reads:

Eligible devices activated July 1, 2021 or later will qualify for offers of 3 months free Apple TV+, while those activated on June 30, 2021 or earlier will qualify for offers of 1 year free Apple TV+.

Shortening the free trial could be a signal that the company feels confident enough in its Apple TV slate that people will stick around, whether it’s for a new season of Ted Lasso in July or one of the bigger, blockbuster TV shows the company has planned for the rest of the year, like Invasion or Foundation. As far as Ted Lasso is concerned, Apple is clearly trying to drum up excitement. The company announced merchandise and a new trailer for the show’s second season on Monday.

Losing an extra nine months of a now-pretty-solid video service might make swallowing the cost of expensive Apple products a bit harder. But if you buy and activate a device before June 30th, 2021, you can still take advantage of the original, longer promotion.

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