Apple used to offer three months of Apple Music trial for all users. Now Apple has announced that it will double the trial period for students. Henceforth, those who register to students plan will get 6-month of the free trial.

Once the trail ends, students will be charged a discounted rate of $4.99, which is half of the regular $9.99 subscription fee. This is the first time that Apple is offering an extended trial for Apple Music users. Apple Music Student Plan is available for students studying bachelor degree, post-graduate degree or Higher Education course at a university.

In order to activate the student trial you also need to have an active student email and use UNiDAYS to verify your enrollment. That being said the extended trial is only available for new Apple Music subscribers.

Today, Apple unveiled its annual Back to School promotion. The company is offering a free pair of Beats headphones for those who purchase new MacBooks and iPads. Apple also announced that it is discontinuing the 12-inch MacBook and the previous gen MacBook Air.

Our Take

Apple Music is slowly but steadily challenging Spotify’s numero uno position. Eddy Cue recently told in an interview that Apple Music has 60 million paid subscribers. Meanwhile, Spotify has 100 million paid users. Apple Music was launched 9-years after Spotify’s debut and yet the former is closing the gap.

Apple Music stands to gain new subscribers by doubling the trial period for students. It will be interesting to see how Spotify will react to this new offer. Currently, Spotify is offering one month of free trial for both students and regular subscribers.