iPhone and iPad owners in the U.K. face another price rise this winter, with the news that Apple is about to bump up the price tiers on its App Store. In some cases apps may become as much as 20 percent more expensive.
Starting on February 13, the price tiers set in August 2021 (pdf) will be replaced. Whereas the previous standard tiers began at 89p and topped out at £899.99, the new ones (pdf) range from 99p to £999.99. The cheapest alternate tier option remains, however, at 49p.
Because Apple likes to hit round numbers–or 1p below round numbers–the size of the increases is not consistent. The lowest non-free tier, for instance, goes up from 89p to 99p, which is an 11 percent rise; whereas the £2.49 tier moves to £2.99, which is a 20 percent jump.
Here are the increases to some of the more commonly used current tiers, together with the percentage:
- 89p to 99p = 11%
- £1.79 to £1.99 = 11%
- £2.49 to £2.99 = 20%
- £3.49 to £3.99 = 14%
- £4.49 to £4.99 = 11%
- £4.99 to £5.99 = 20%
- £9.99 to £11.99 = 20%
- £14.99 to £16.99 = 13%
- £19.99 to £22.99 = 15%
Auto-renewable subscription costs are not affected by the price increases.
The actual price rise seen by customers may be inconsistent. While Apple sets the tier structure, developers choose the tier at which their app is priced, and some may choose to drop to a lower tier in response to the increase.
As well as in the U.K. App Store, Apple has announced increases to the price tiers in Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, Nigeria, Norway and South Africa. The company says these changes reflect “changes in taxes and foreign exchange rates.” It is simultaneously lowering prices in Uzbekistan.
Last fall Apple put up App Store prices in a large number of countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. The biggest jump was in Japan, whose tiers went up by more than 30 percent.