[Apple New Product Launch] 'Integrated Subscription Service' Without iPhone 12... Accelerating Service Expansion

Official Launch of Integrated Subscription Service Apple One
Service Starts This Fall... Korea Excluded from First Release Countries

Apple's Fitness Plus

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] One of the highlights Apple introduced at this year's new product launch event instead of the iPhone 12 was an integrated subscription service. Along with Fitness+, a subscription-based exercise service that maximizes the functions of the iPhone and Apple Watch in daily life, Apple also introduced 'Apple One,' which bundles various subscription services ranging from music to video content and games into one. This move is seen as accelerating the establishment of a service ecosystem.

On the 15th (local time), Apple officially unveiled the integrated subscription service Apple One at an online product launch event and announced that the service will start this fall. Apple One combines Apple's cloud service iCloud, music streaming service Apple Music, online video service (OTT) Apple TV Plus, game service Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus, and the newly introduced Apple Fitness+ into one package. Together, these six major services are offered at an affordable price.

The pricing plans are divided into three types?Individual, Family, and Premium?based on the types of services and cloud storage capacity. In the United States, the Individual plan is priced at $14.95 per month, Family (up to 5 people) at $19.95 per month, and Premium at $29.95 per month. Among these, Apple News Plus and Apple Fitness+ are only available with the Premium plan.

Apple explained, "Using Apple One is $6 cheaper per month for individuals and $25 cheaper per month for Premium users compared to subscribing to each service separately."

Apple plans to launch the service in over 100 countries starting in the second half of this year. However, South Korea was excluded from the first wave of release countries. Currently, Apple TV Plus is also not available domestically.

The Fitness+ introduced by Apple on this day is a subscription-based exercise service that can be linked with the Apple Watch and iPhone. It offers expert-led video coaching covering strength training, yoga, dance, cycling, and more. It also provides personalized exercise recommendations using artificial intelligence (AI). Notably, Fitness+ can measure heart rate, calories burned, and other metrics in conjunction with the Apple Watch.

The subscription fee for Fitness+ is $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. However, South Korea is excluded from the first release countries. Apple plans to expand the service worldwide by the end of the year.

Since 2012, Apple has unveiled new iPhone models every September at its product launch events, but this time it did not introduce the iPhone 12. The iPhone 12, Apple's first 5G iPhone, is expected to be unveiled next month.