Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

If you started a free year of Apple TV+ between November 1st and January 31st, your end date for your free trial will now last until the end of February, giving you up to an extra three months of free access. If you signed up in February or later, there will be no change as your trial already lasts beyond the February date.

There’s more to this (read Benjamin’s post), but in a nutshell, the soonest your free year of Apple TV+ will expire is February 28th. Especially good news for folks who grabbed their free year back when Apple TV+ first started, last November 1st.

Consider this bit from the Apple TV+ terms and conditions:

Upon claiming the offer, you commit to a $4.99/month subscription that starts immediately after the 1 year free and automatically renews until cancelled.

Presumably, this part of the terms will be updated and your commitment won’t start before March 1st. But that aside, there’s a line in the sand for all free Apple TV+ subscriptions to translate into a paid monthly sub.

Unless…

Here’s where bundles come in. We know the bundle pricing. What we don’t know is when they will start. I originally thought we’d see bundles turn on by November 1st so everyone would have the bundle option when faced with their subscription flipping to paid.

When I heard about the February extension, my immediate thought was that this had something to do with bundles and season 2. The availability of both the bundle and the appearance of new seasons of favorite content would ratchet up the pressure to make the leap to paid. Bundles are a no brainer for some, and the actual availability of new seasons of shows you love gives more immediate value to the equation, more so than if you had to make a decision in 2020, before the new seasons drop.

Side note: Jim and I talk about this issue on the Dalrymple Report episode that will drop later today, but it was before we knew about the extension, so keep that in mind if you are a listener.