• Prices are going up across almost all the Apple Music tiers
• There are some bumps in Apple Music prices too
• These are the first price hikes we've seen since October 2022

Apple Music is the latest subscription package to get a bump in price, leaving users with the choice between paying more or losing access to the streaming part of their library. The bundled Apple One package that includes Apple Music now costs more as well.

As reported by Music Business Worldwide (via Engadget), the reason cited by Apple is "rising licensing costs". It's the first price hike for this particular subscription we've seen since October 2022. The new monthly prices are below:

The Apple One price increases are less clear, as they're not as easily available on the Apple website. It appears the Apple One Family plan is now $27.95 per month (up $2) and the Apple One Premier plan is now $39.95 (also up $2), though the Apple One Individual plan has stayed at $19.95. Internationally, similar price rises are likely.

This comes at a time when everything tech-related is getting more expensive, from laptops to streaming services. Exploding AI resource demand has sent the price of memory and storage rocketing, and that continues to have a knock-on effect everywhere.

Loss of control

Apple raises prices for Apple Music and Apple One subscriptions from r/apple

Apple is of course by no means the first company to put up its subscription prices, but it's a reminder of the pitfalls of the digital rental model. As soon as you stop paying, you lose access — so if you need a service, you have no choice but to accept the higher price.

The online reaction has mostly focused on this too: "It's not even about the cost sometimes," writes one Redditor. "It's about loss of control over your finances. Companies can jack up their prices whenever they want." Few commenters seem ready to quit Apple Music, though many are pointing out the billions that Apple has in the bank.

Apple Music doesn't have a free tier like Spotify does, but it beats every other music streaming service in the support it gives you for local files. If you have enough MP3s and ripped CDs, you can use it perfectly well without a subscription.

As we've written about recently, Apple is selling more and more of its software products through recurring payments rather than a flat one-off fee, and one of the reasons is that it's more profitable — and makes it more likely that users will continue to pay up.

The mutants are coming. Indeed, with Marvel hard at work on developing another X-Men movie — one that will officially introduce a new version of the superteam to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — it won't be long before they return to the big screen. Well, providing you don't consider its potential 2028 launch to be a lengthy wait...

But I digress. With San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026 almost upon us, and speculation that some sort of X-Men announcement will be made at the fan expo, interest over the next live-action X-Men film couldn't be higher. Read on to discover everything we know so far about the movie that's likely to usher in version 2.0 of the MCU.

X-Men movie release date: what we know

Marvel is yet to confirm a release date for its X-Men movie. It's still in the early stages of development, after all, so unless a surprise announcement comes at SDCC 2026, it will be some time before we know more.

That said, this film is high on Marvel's list of priorities. Speaking in late 2024, company president Kevin Feige said that MCU's future will be all about the X-Men after the Multiverse Saga comes to an end with next year's Avengers: Secret Wars.

More recently, Feige hinted (see the X/Twitter post above) that the new X-Men movie will be the first film to arrive after the sixth Avengers installment. With that movie due out in December 2027, we shouldn't expect MCU's first mutant-led project until some time in 2028.

Marvel's X-Men movie trailer: is there one?

Unsurprisingly, no. In fact, assuming Marvel returns to Hall H panel at SDCC 2028, I'd be amazed if we get any official footage before then.

Once a teaser is released, I'll update this section – but you'll be waiting a long time for one!

Marvel's X-Men cast rumors

Possible spoilers follow for Marvel's X-Men movie.

Predictably, nobody has been confirmed to appear in Marvel's X-Men movie yet. However, plenty of rumors have surfaced – and continue to circulate – about who's involved, so let's take a look at some of the biggest ones.

For starters, one report that did the rounds in July 2025 suggested that Marvel was eyeing rising stars over established names for its X-Men reboot. The reason? The Disney subsidiary wants to make movies for less — and that means it isn't looking to pay over the odds for A-listers.

And yet, the vast majority of actors who have been linked with roles in Marvel's mutant-led flick are what I'd consider to be household names.

One such star is Stranger Things alumnus Sadie Sink. After being cast as a mystery character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the long-running rumor is that Sink will play Jean Grey. If that's true — and there's now plenty of evidence to suggest it is — we'll almost certainly see her in this film.

Who else could pop up? Last May, the rumour mill was buzzing with reports about other potential X-Men cast members, including speculation that Bryan Cranston would play Charles Xavier/Professor X, Cynthia Erivo would portray Ororo Munroe/Storm, and recent retiree Daniel Day-Lewis had held talks to take on the role of Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto.

However, other actors have since been linked with two of those roles. In mid-July, Adam Driver was said to have been cast as Magneto, while Patrick Wilson is supposedly in the frame as Professor X (per knightedgemedia). For what it's worth, reliable industry insider Apocalyptic Horseman said that the latter might not be true.

Elsewhere, Obsession star Inde Navarrette revealed that she'd recently met with new X-Men director Jake Schreier — prompting fans to cast her in a variety of mutant roles. Meanwhile, after unreliable leaker Jeff Sneider claimed that Avatar star Trinity Jo-Li Bliss had been tapped to play Jubilee, Bliss herself denied the report (via The Direct).

Lastly, Lee Sung Jin, one of this film's co-writers, told Collider that he's a huge fan of Remy LeBeau/Gambit. Don't be surprised, then, if we see a new iteration of the Ragin' Cajun as part of this movie's ensemble.

Marvel's X-Men movie plot rumors

You already know what I'm going to say here, don't you? Surprise, surprise, Marvel's X-Men reboot doesn't have a story synopsis yet.

Thanks to Schreier and Jin, though, we've been given a glimpse into their creative process for the film, including the key inspiration behind the story they want to tell.

Schreier (via Collider) and Jin (via Men's Health) admitted that the literature penned by legendary scribe Chris Claremont, who's best known for working on the Uncanny X-Men comic book series for 16 years between 1975 and 1991, will be a major influence on their X-Men reboot. Jin also revealed (via The Watch podcast) that beloved Saturday morning cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series is also informing the narrative structure by way of its character-first and soap opera-esque elements.

Chatting to Deadline, Jin also explained that Feige wants him, co-writer Joanna Calo, and Schreier to " take a big swing and start anew, [and] not be beholden to any of the movies that have come before".

Expect an entirely new take — in a live-action sense, anyway — of the iconic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby-created supergroup when their next movie lands in theaters.

Where can I watch the X-Men movies?

You can watch every live-action X-Men movie on Disney+, aka one of the world's best streaming services. Disney's primary streamer has been home to these flicks since the House of Mouse bought 20th Century Fox in March 2019. You can even find out how to watch the X-Men movies in order with our help while you're here.

Additionally, X-Men: The Animated Series and its sequel show X-Men 97 are also available to watch on Disney+. Not a subscriber? Find out if a Disney+ free trial is available or the price of Disney+ in your area if you want to sign up.

What does the future hold for the X-Men in the MCU?

In short: we have no idea. Marvel still has to get this movie off the ground, and as Schreier explained during an interview with Collider, it needs to be a major success if the franchise is to continue into Marvel Phase 7 and beyond.

If it succeeds, the X-Men could become one of the cornerstones of the MCU's next era. But if it doesn't? Frankly, that's a scenario that doesn't bear thinking about. The X-Men are one of the most popular superhero teams of all time, so if they can't help support Marvel's cinematic juggernaut in a post-Multiverse Saga world, who can?

While we wait for some much-needed news on Marvel's X-Men movie, find out what we know about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Then, get the full lowdown on Avengers: Doomsday and learn everything we know so far about Avengers: Secret Wars.

Spoilers for Heartstopper Forever ahead.

July 17 was a fantastic day for anyone who loves the movies. Not only did we have the release of Christopher Nolan's epic The Odyssey, but Netflix has wrapped up one of its most beloved IPs with a full-length feature in Heartstopper Forever.

Clearly, these are two very separate events. The Odyssey is set to be a theatrical phenomenon, currently screening in IMAX 70mm around the world, and is set to take at least $200 million at the international box office across its opening weekend.

Meanwhile, Heartstopper fans will be streaming Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie's (Joe Locke) final farewell from the comfort of their own homes. The series has swapped format after its original three TV seasons, but the movie runtime is still equivalent to around 4.5 episodes.

If you're anything like me, you'll be doing both in a double bill that not even Barbenheimer could touch the sides of. But what if I told you there's a direct nod to The Odyssey in Heartstopper Forever if you know where to look?

Charlie's Odyssey poster in Heartstopper Forever is the perfect nod to the Christopher Nolan movie

When Nick and Charlie briefly break up, Charlie spends a great deal of time in bed to try and keep his problems at bay. When friends Elle (Yasmin Finney), Isaac (Tobie Donovan), and Tao (William Gao) arrive to stage an intervention, we see a poster of The Odyssey hanging above Charlie's head.

This isn't a detail we've seen in the previous three seasons, so I'd like to think that it is a direct Easter egg nod to the Nolan movie's release — despite this not being confirmed.

"Wonder if there'll also be a Heartstopper poster in The Odyssey movie," one fan joked on X/Twitter, who also spotted the background detail.

As with everything Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman has put her name to, the detail in Heartstopper Forever is nothing short of beautiful. The Odyssey reference isn't the only Easter egg you'll spot in the movie, but not more spoilers here... make sure you read our ending explainer to catch up on what you might have missed.

Are this week's movie releases going to join forces to become a legitimate double bill? I highly doubt it. But the fact that two such separate creations can briefly come together to share a wonderful moment is a testament to the power of cinema and creating meaningful art.

You could hardly say Netflix is a business in trouble, but it does have a problem: for a lot of its shows, viewing figures are declining sharply after the first season. According to Bloomberg, Beef lost more than 70% of its viewers going into its second season, while The Night Agent lost 50% of its audience in season two.

This seems to be a pattern repeated over many Netflix shows, including some that rack up impressive viewing figures in their first season. The streaming platform relies on subscribers sticking around, and these stats are apparently "a major source of concern" for the executives at Netflix.

So what's going on? While I'm not privy to the internal discussions at Netflix or the statistics that its executives are available to them, I am a Netflix subscriber of many years standing — and I have a few ideas about what's going on.

Viewing fatigue

There's a lot to get through these days, isn't there? Tens of millions of songs on music streaming platforms, more movies than you'll ever have time to watch in ten lifetimes, and of course the entire history of TV — with new shows appearing weekly. It's perhaps no surprise that we're all finding it hard to stick with successive series when there's so much more out there to watch and listen to.

The way that Netflix's stats work, is that a drop-off in viewing numbers for a second season also includes those who abandoned the show somewhere along the way during the first run of episodes. And if you're not getting grabbed episode after episode by the plot and the characters, it's all too tempting to click away.

That's a shame for slow burn shows and those that need time to get going, and perhaps we all need to learn to be a bit more patient. However, it goes some way to explaining why Netflix shows can shed a lot of viewers after the initial pull of the first few episodes — there's an awful lot competing for our attention.

The binge model

For the most part, Netflix continues to drop its shows all at once, so as soon as they're live you can binge watch an entire season. Sometimes it's great to be able to burn through a bunch of episodes, but it also means you can be done with an entire season very quickly.

This exacerbates the problem of gaps between series (of which more in a moment), but it also means shows can be quickly forgotten in the rush of everything else that's going on. Some of my favorite TV shows are those that come out week by week: I watch the episode, then I catch up on the recap podcasts.

It means shows last longer — not in terms of the actual running time, but in terms of how many days and weeks it takes to get through a season. I actually quite like being able to binge shows sometimes, but it does mean they can be quickly forgotten.

Season-to-season gaps

This isn't something that only affects Netflix, but we're still seeing huge gaps between seasons of shows — and unless the viewing experience is very special, that's likely to lead to waning enthusiasm from audiences as the months and years drag on.

Silo isn't a Netflix show, but the point is the same: as I was settling down to watch the third season a few days ago, even the initial recap montage had me confused (there was a mere 18 months between the end of season two and the start of season three). There were parts I didn't remember, and I had to head over to Wikipedia to get caught up.

Stranger Things is a Netflix show, and while I did manage to drag myself through it in its entirety, it was a struggle towards the end. The show lasted for just shy of a decade, and there are huge swathes of it that are no longer in my memory banks. It's not easy to produce television shows quickly, but the slow rollouts aren't helping their chances.

A trust issue

I've seen Netflix's regular cancellation of shows floated as a reason for second-series-syndrome, and I think this is an issue for program makers as well as audiences. If you don't know whether or not you're getting a second or third season, then you have to throw everything into the first one, and think more about wrapping it up neatly than extending it.

The Night Agent is one of the Netflix shows I've found it hard to stay with: the original rookie-on-the-run premise worked well and the first season was propulsive entertainment, but as it's continued, it's become more of a by-the-numbers action thriller. It's almost like they're making it up as they go.

Compare that with something like Bridgerton, which is a Netflix show I have managed to keep up with. It is of course based on a series of books (as is Apple TV's Slow Horses by the way), and that helps to ensure variety from season-to-season, with the focus switching between different characters and plotlines.

I'm not sure exactly how Netflix can fix the problem of viewing numbers declining in season two — I'm not a highly paid TV executive after all — but those are a few thoughts about why it's happening.