Tag Archives: Apple Arcade

iOS, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Apple Subscriptions Get a Price Hike

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Apple users, get ready for a minor change in your monthly fees. As a result of Apple’s recent price review, the company has raised the prices of Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus, and the Apple One packages. This change is in keeping with the industry-wide pattern of rising subscription costs.

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Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com

For international Apple users, prices are increased between USD$2 and USD$3. Moving forward, the prices will be:

SubscriptionOriginal Price (USD)New Price (USD)Increase (USD)
Apple TV+USD$6.99USD$9.99USD$3.00
Apple ArcadeUSD$4.99USD$6.99USD$2.00
Apple News+USD$9.99USD$12.99USD$3.00

This price hike also affects the Apple One packages, which bundles several of Apple’s services. Apple One has three tiers which all have been subjected to price raises as well.

SubscriptionBundled ServicesOriginal Price (USD)New Price (USD)Increase (USD)
IndividualiCloud+ (50GB)
Apple TV+
Apple Music
Apple Arcade		USD$16.95USD$19.95USD$3.00
Family
(5-users)		iCloud+ (200GB)
Apple TV+
Apple Music
Apple Arcade		USD$22.95USD$25.95USD$3.00
PremiumiCloud+ (2TB)
Apple TV+
Apple Music
Apple Arcade
Apple Fitness+
Apple News+		USD$32.95USD$37.95USD$5.00

However, even with all the current price hikes, it is of note that other Apple services like Apple Music, Fitness+, and iCloud+ memberships are unchanged as of now.

The recent price hikes also affect Malaysian Apple users particularly those who use the Apple One subscriptions.  Apple One members in Malaysia will see a small rise in the monthly fee for the service.

SubscriptionBundled ServicesOriginal Price (MYR)New Price (MYR)Increase (MYR)
IndividualiCloud+ (50GB)
Apple TV+
Apple Music
Apple Arcade		MYR29.90MYR34.90MYR5.00
Family
(5-users)		iCloud+ (200GB)
Apple TV+
Apple Music
Apple Arcade		MYR39.90MYR44.90MYR5.00
PremiumiCloud+ (2TB)
Apple TV+
Apple Music
Apple Arcade
Apple Fitness+
Apple News+		MYR78.90MYR84.90MYR6.00

Other well-known subscriptions like Netflix have also seen a price hike which is becoming a recent trend among other subscriptions too.  These price hikes are unfortunately necessary to cover the ever-increasing price of delivering excellent content and services to users.

Consumer Electronics, iOS, Lifestyle, News

The 2021 Generation Apple TV 4K – Even Better and Even Cleverer, Cleverer Than Your Smart TV

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Apple’s Spring Loaded event for 2021 revealed the highly anticipated iMac and iPad Pro that both packs Apple’s M1 chip that you can also find on the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. They also revealed a new Apple TV 4K though. While the entirety of the Apple TV box does not look different from the outside, there are improvements made on the Apple TV 4K.

For one, it now comes with Apple’s A12 Bionic chip. To be fair, that is not the latest Apple integrated chip in their line-up. The A12 chip though is still one tough and powerful chip to work with in the Apple TV 4K box. It powers the updated tvOS that seamlessly integrates with all sorts of Apple devices. You can even watch Apple TV with your AirPods if you really want to with the Apple TV 4K.

There is also a new remote that comes with the 2021 Apple TV 4k. The new remote is designed to somewhat resemble an iPhone, we feel. Aside from that though the remote is made to be as intuitive as ever and with a dedicated Siri button on the side to make reaching Siri voice command more seamless and hassle free than ever.

Source: Apple

Of course, the 2021 Apple TV 4K will still come with all the things that made the Apple TV 4K one of the favourite TV boxes around. The tvOS offers the latest shows from Apple TV+ (with subscription, of course), offers best in class music experience via Apple Music, features Apple Fitness+ to pair with your Apple Watch, Apple Arcade for over-the-top games, AirPlay to seamlessly share videos, music, projects, and other content from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac devices directly to your TV. The Apple TV 4K box is also your home control hub for all your HomeKit accessories, including your HomePod speakers.

Beyond that though, Apple TV 4K now support HDR and Dolby Vision contents at 60fps instead of the regular 30fps. While it is not quite 120hz ready, 60fps is quite a lot more than enough for most video contents today. 60fps would really change the way you view sports too.

The cleverest feature of the Apple TV 4K in 2021 though is the clever colour calibration process that works with the Apple iPhone. The 2021 Apple TV 4K works in tandem with the iPhone light sensor to compare the colour balance between your TV to the industry standard. Once the data is received by the Apple TV 4K box, it automatically adjusts its output to deliver more accurate colours and better colour contrasts without users ever touching the TV’s settings.

  • Source: Apple
  • Source: Apple
  • Source: Apple
  • Source: Apple
  • Source: Apple
  • Source: Apple

The Apple TV 4K is now available in select regions at US$ 179 (MYR 849*) onward. There are no colour options available for Apple TV 4K at this point, you get a black TV box and silver remote. You can opt for a larger storage for the Apple TV 4K at 64GB for US$ 199 (MYR 949*). The Apple TV Siri remote is also available separately at US$ 59 (MYR 299*) and is compatible with previous generation Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. The Apple TV HD with the Siri remote will be available at US$ 149 (MYR 719*). There is no confirmation on local (Malaysia) availability yet at this point. More information on the Apple TV 4K and the new Siri remote can be found on Apple’s website.

*Official Malaysia pricing as per Apple Malaysia