Apple Music Just Got More Expensive — And It's Part of a Much Bigger Trend
2026-07-19
On July 17, 2026, Apple raised Apple Music prices in the US and globally for the first time since October 2022. The individual plan went from $10.99 to $11.99. The family plan jumped $3 to $19.99. The student plan is now $6.99, up from $5.99.
It's a modest increase on its own — a dollar here, a few dollars there. But it's the latest in a rolling wave of price hikes from Apple that started with hardware in late June and has now spread to services. If you're plugged into the Apple ecosystem, pretty much everything costs more than it did a few months ago.
Here's what happened, how much more you'll pay, and the structural forces driving prices up across the entire tech industry.
Apple Music — First Hike in Four Years
Apple Music launched in 2015 at $9.99/month and held that price for seven years. The last increase was in October 2022, when it went from $9.99 to $10.99. This new round pushes it to $11.99 — a 9% increase for individuals and a steeper 18% for families.
| Plan | Old Price | New Price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | $10.99/mo | $11.99/mo | +$1 (+9%) |
| Family (up to 6 people) | $16.99/mo | $19.99/mo | +$3 (+18%) |
| Student | $5.99/mo | $6.99/mo | +$1 (+17%) |
Apple One bundles also got hit. The Individual tier stayed at $19.95, but Family went from $25.95 to $27.95, and Premier from $37.95 to $39.95.
| Apple One Bundle | Old Price | New Price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | $19.95/mo | $19.95/mo | No change |
| Family | $25.95/mo | $27.95/mo | +$2 |
| Premier | $37.95/mo | $39.95/mo | +$2 |
Apple's official reason: "As a result of rising licensing costs." It's the same justification they gave in 2022. Music labels have been pushing for higher royalties for years, and the streaming math only works at scale when you keep raising prices. Even with the increase, Apple Music undercuts Spotify's $12.99/month individual plan by a dollar.
The increase went into effect immediately for new subscribers. Existing subscribers were notified and rolled over at their next billing cycle.
But It's Not Just Music
The Apple Music hike came three weeks after Apple raised prices on practically its entire hardware lineup on June 25. Tim Cook had telegraphed this in a Wall Street Journal interview, calling price increases "unavoidable" due to skyrocketing memory and storage costs.
Here's the full rundown of hardware price changes:
| Product | Old Price | New Price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo | $599 | $699 | +$100 |
| MacBook Air 13" | $1,099 | $1,299 | +$200 |
| MacBook Air 15" | $1,299 | $1,499 | +$200 |
| MacBook Pro 14" | $1,699 | $1,999 | +$300 |
| MacBook Pro 16" | $2,499 | $2,799 | +$300 |
| iMac | $1,299 | $1,499 | +$200 |
| Mac mini (M4) | $599 | $799 | +$200 |
| Mac mini (M4 Pro) | $1,399 | $1,599 | +$200 |
| Mac Studio (M4 Max) | $1,999 | $2,499 | +$500 |
| Mac Studio (M3 Ultra) | $3,999 | $5,299 | +$1,300 |
| iPad | $349 | $449 | +$100 |
| iPad mini | $499 | $599 | +$100 |
| iPad Air 11" | $599 | $749 | +$150 |
| iPad Air 13" | $799 | $949 | +$150 |
| iPad Pro 11" | $999 | $1,199 | +$200 |
| iPad Pro 13" | $1,299 | $1,499 | +$200 |
| HomePod | $299 | $349 | +$50 |
| HomePod mini | $99 | $129 | +$30 |
| Apple TV 4K | $129 | $199 | +$70 |
| Vision Pro | $3,499 | $3,699 | +$200 |
The average price increase across all affected products was roughly $246. iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Studio Display were left untouched — for now.
Why Hardware Prices Are Going Up
The root cause is a massive imbalance in the memory and storage market. AI data centers are consuming enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and NAND flash storage, squeezing supply and sending prices through the roof.
Apple said in a statement:
"The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly."
Tim Cook was more blunt in his WSJ interview: "I've never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years." He called the memory shortage a "hundred-year flood."
The numbers back him up. According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone DRAM prices jumped 50% and NAND flash prices surged over 90% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 alone. Memory supplier Micron expects the shortage to last through at least 2027.
Apple had been absorbing these cost increases for months, but as component prices quadrupled since Q4 2025, that became unsustainable. The June 25 price hike was the result.
AppleCare+ Costs More Too
Even the extended warranty got pricier. AppleCare+ for every current Mac and iPad model went up by $0.50/month ($5/year). It's small, but it's yet another line item creeping up.
The Bigger Trend
Apple is not alone here. This is an industry-wide phenomenon. Microsoft, Samsung, Lenovo, HP, and Dell have all raised prices in response to the same component shortage. Spotify raised its premium price to $12.99 earlier this year, making Apple's $11.99 look like the bargain option.
What's interesting about Apple's approach is the sequencing. They started with hardware in late June, then three weeks later hit services. The hardware increases are tied to a specific and hopefully temporary component shortage. The Apple Music increase is about structural licensing costs — those aren't coming back down.
The message is clear: the era of steadily declining or flat tech prices is over. AI infrastructure buildout is consuming the same memory and storage components that go into consumer devices, creating supply constraints that didn't exist before. And on the services side, content licensing costs only go in one direction.
What This Means Going Forward
The iPhone is the big question mark. It was notably absent from the June 25 price increases. But Counterpoint Research estimates component costs could add roughly $200 per iPhone, and IDC expects Apple's average selling price to rise 12% this year. When the iPhone 18 lineup launches this fall, don't be surprised to see starting prices $100–$200 higher.
Apple's refurbished prices went up too. A refurbished MacBook Neo 256GB now sells for $599 — which is what a brand-new one cost before the hike.
And with DRAM and NAND prices expected to stay elevated through 2027, these prices aren't temporary. The "hundred-year flood" Tim Cook described has permanently reset the floor.
The Apple Music increase is the small story. The big story is that everything in tech is getting more expensive at once — hardware, services, warranties, the works. Whether that's a cyclical correction or a new normal depends on how quickly the memory industry can ramp production. But for now, if you've been eyeing a new Mac or iPad, the price you see today is the cheapest it's going to be for a while.
The Alternative: Self-Host Your Music
If you're tired of subscription prices going up every few years with no say in the matter, self-hosting is worth a look. Services like Plexamp — a dedicated music player built on the Plex ecosystem — let you stream your own music collection from a server you control. No licensing fees, no surprise price hikes, no ads.
You point Plex at a folder of FLACs or MP3s on a NAS, an old laptop, or a Raspberry Pi, and Plexamp turns your phone into a remote control for your entire library. It supports gapless playback, lyrics, smart playlists, Sonic Analysis (mood/tempo tagging), and even lossless streaming if your server can handle it. The Plexamp app itself is free — you just need a Plex Pass ($4.99/month or $119 lifetime) or a free Plex account with basic features.
The tradeoff is obvious: you have to manage your own music files, your own storage, and your own server. That's not for everyone. But in a world where Apple Music, Spotify, and every other streaming service keeps getting more expensive, there's something appealing about owning your library outright. Your music collection doesn't need a licensing budget, and it won't get a price hike next year.
Pair it with something like Navidrome or Jellyfin for an entirely open-source stack, and you've got a music setup that costs nothing to run beyond the electricity for your server and whatever hard drives you fill up. No $11.99/month. No $19.99 family plan. No "rising licensing costs."