Apple Music Cuts Free Trial Period to Just One Month (Here’s How You Can Still Get a Longer Free Trial)

Apple has long offered a generous three-month trial period for those who are entirely new to Apple Music, but it looks like that’s now come to an end.

As of this week, Apple Music now only offers a shorter one-month free trial for first-time subscribers. The change was first spotted by Japan’s Mac Otakara, but we’ve confirmed that it applies in every major country where Apple Music is available, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Despite the shorter trial period, the pricing for Apple Music remains the same, with plans starting at $4.99 for eligible students and those who want to opt for the new Voice Plan, $9.99 for the standard individual plan, and $14.99 for the family version, which can be shared by up to six people. It’s also still available in Apple One bundles.

To be clear, Apple’s free trials have always been a one-shot deal, aimed only at those who have never subscribed to a given service before. In other words, once you’ve used up your three-month trial, you wouldn’t ever get those three free months again, even if you pay for Apple Music for a while, cancel, and then decide to come back later.

This differs slightly from how Apple’s chief rival, Spotify, does things. While Spotify has only ever offered one-month free trials that can’t be reused either, it offers “win-back” promotions on an almost annual basis, with additional free trial or deeply discounted subscription offers aimed at former subscribers.

For instance, those willing to give Spotify another chance can often find themselves signing up for 3–6 months of service for a $0.99 flat fee. This is something Apple doesn’t normally do. With Apple Music, once you’ve used up your free trial period, you’ll only ever be able to come back by paying the full monthly price.

Extended Free Apple Trials

Even though the standard free trial is now dropping to one month, there are several ways you can still get longer free trials.

The most obvious of these is with the purchase of a new Apple product. Apple is still offering a six-month free trial of Apple Music to anybody who purchases an “eligible audio device.” This includes all flavours of AirPods, along with Beats headphones and the HomePod mini.

In this case, you’ll need to pair up your AirPods, Beats, or HomePod mini with your iPhone or iPad, and then activate the offer from there within three months.

Other retailers, like Best Buy, also frequently offer extended free trials of Apple Services with the purchase of products, but what’s even more interesting is that Best Buy is still offering completely free extended trials from its Black Friday deal in November.

In the case of Apple Music, this will give you the same six months with no purchase necessary. You simply need to register for a Best Buy account, make the $0 purchase, and download the provided redemption code. There are also similar trials of different lengths for Apple News+, Apple TV+, and Apple Fitness+.

Keep in mind, however, that you can’t claim these offers if you’re already a subscriber to any of these services, either individually or via an Apple One bundle.

If you’re a former subscriber to Apple Music, you may be able to take advantage of these offers, but just remember that Apple has a “time served” rule when it comes to free trials that deducts any free trial time you’ve already used in the past.

In other words, if you’ve already signed up to Apple Music before, then you’ll have already undergone the three-month trial period. If you then purchase a set of AirPods, or use the Best Buy offer above, your “six-month trial” will work out to only three months, as you’ve already used three in the past.

This same policy will presumably apply now that Apple has shortened the free trial period, but the upside is that it could make these special offers even more lucrative for those who want to come back and try Apple Music later. In this case, a six-month trial would give users an additional five months, since they would have only used up one. In fact, this is how the six-month Apple News+ offer already works, since that service only ever provided a one-month trial in the first place.