Apple extends Apple TV+ trials again

(Pocket-lint) – A nice benefit of buying a new Apple device in the last year and a bit has been the addition of a free year of Apple TV+ to enjoy alongside it, with Apple’s streaming service slowly filling out with things worth watching. 

Apple keeps pushing back the expiry date on those annual free subscriptions, though, which is more than welcome, if a little confusing. It had previously extended them to February 2021, and now is extended them again to the end of June 2021 instead. 

That means that some lucky folk will get pretty close to two whole years of free service, if they hopped on early enough and never cancelled. Those eligible will be emailed to let them know, but won’t need to do anything to trigger the extension.

Those who actually pay for the service, meanwhile, should get store credit applied to their store account to compensate for the freebies, including those who get access via an Apple One subscription. 

Apple hasn’t clarified exactly why it’s making the change again, but it might be that it wants to get as much original content in front of people before their trial ends. It has a couple of bigger projects coming out soon, including Tom Holland-fronted war movie Cherry. 

Whether this all translates to a great outlook for Apple’s streaming service in the long-term is harder to judge, but you don’t imagine it’s ideal that free extensions are a primary tool to keep its subscriber base in place. 

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills.