What you need to know
- Apple is still working on a services bundle.
- Code found within iOS 13.5.5 makes reference to such an offering.
- Apple has been rumored to be working on a bundle for years.
Apple has long been rumored to be working on bundling its services together into one discounted price. A new report from 9to5Mac has brought some new weight to that rumor.
According to the report, internal files in iOS 13.5.5 make reference to a "bundle offer and bundle subscription". 9to5Mac says that this code is related to Apple's own services.
"iOS 13.5.5 internal files include references to a "bundle offer" and "bundle subscription" that didn't exist in previous iOS versions. These codes are related to the management system of Apple's own services subscriptions like Apple News+, so we believe the company still has plans to offer a discount combo with its services."
Apple currently sells all of its services separately. If you want to subscribe to all of Apple's services, you'll end up with four different subscriptions: one for Apple Music, one for Apple TV+, one for Apple News+, and one for iCloud. iCloud aside, paying for the Family versions of the other three services costs about $30 a month.
Such a bundle could be possible, but there are some doubts as to how quickly it could take form. In March, the Financial Times reported that Apple had signed new deals with music labels that did not include agreements to bundle Apple Music with its other services.
"Apple's new contracts do not, however, include an economic agreement to bundle Apple Music with the company's television service, these people said, indicating that a widely anticipated super-bundle of Apple's media content may be months away."
It is exciting to see a reference to such a bundle in the code, but we may still have a ways to go before such a promotion actually makes it to customers.
