Apple cuts TV+ free trial to three months

Ted Lasso

Apple will reduce its free trial offer for its Apple TV+ SVOD service at the start of July.

Since the service’s global launch in November 2019, Apple has offered anyone who purchases a qualifying device (which is most of its devices) a year’s free access to the streamer. That offer has been extended multiple times, but it is about to change. 

As spotted by The Loop executive editor Dave Mark, Apple has quietly changed the official terms and conditions for the promotion to detail the change. 

The page now 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+.”

Part of Apple’s perceived reluctance to shorten the trial has been a lack of confidence in its content. While shows like Defending Jacob and Mythic Quest are critically acclaimed and have resonated with some audiences, there have been few mainstream hit series. 

Apple TV+’s biggest hit to date has been the Jason Sudekis football comedy show Ted Lasso. The WB-produced series, which returns for its second season next month, was such a critical darling that its star Sudekis won a surprise Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical or comedy TV show. 

Apple will hope that it can carry on the positive momentum of Ted Lasso with its upcoming sci-fi series Invasion and the adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s ‘unfilmable’ Foundation which has been more than half a decade in the works.