DECEMBER 2021 MACWORLD 45200GB of Google
One storage,
Preferred Care,
and subscriptions
to YouTube
Premium, YouTube
Music Premium,
and Google Play
Pass for two years.
At the end of the
two years, you can
upgrade to a new
Pixel or keep your
existing one.
Here’s how
much each would
cost individually:
YouTube Premium and YouTube
Music Premium: $12
Google Play Pass: $5
200GB Google One: $2.99
Pixel Preferred Care: $7/$9
Pixel 6: $25
Pixel 5 Pro: $37.50
That’s a savings of $7 a month for the
Pixel 6 and $11.50 a month for the Pixel 6
Pro. If Apple had an iPhone Apple One plan
that offered AppleCare+, Apple Music,
Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade, that would
be a fantastic bundle. Instead, the iPhone
Upgrade Program is little more than a
payment plan with no actual savings.
The Pixel Pass is more than a
discount. Google’s Pixel Pass takes
Apple’s ecosystem lock-in to a new level
by combining hardware and software in a
unique way. No other Android phone
offers the software and services that the
Android does, and if the Pixel can finally
deliver a hardware experience to match,
it might at last be a true competitor to the
Apple iPhone.
It’s no secret that Apple makes most of
the smartphone profits and has the most
successful phones on the planet. Apple’s
strength isn’t just in design and features;
it’s about building an ecosystem
customers enjoy being locked into.
Google is trying to do something similar
with the Pixel 6—and some iPhone users
might find themselves changing keys. ■The Pixel 6 will stand out in a crowd of iPhones.