Winners and Losers: AirPlay checks into hotels as Amazon makes its cheap Prime Video tier harder to find

It’s the start of a new week, meaning it’s time for another edition of Winners and Losers. 

It’s been a major week in mobile, with Motorola announcing the Edge 50 Ultra and the Edge 50 Pro, Huawei taking phone cameras to the next level with the Pura 70 Ultra, and HMD and Heineken teaming up to create The Boring Phone, a drab-looking flip phone designed to take you offline. 

This week also saw some big announcements in audio from the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) to the Marshall Major V and Minor IV headphones. 

Keep reading to learn who we named our winner and loser this week. 

Winner: Apple 

Our winner this week is Apple as AirPlay support officially began rolling out in IHG hotels. That means no more worrying about germs on the remote control or wrapping the remote in plastic if you’re used to taking extra precautions. 

Apple first announced that it would be launching AirPlay support on compatible LG TVs in hotel rooms last year. However, the update didn’t make it onto the iPhone until January’s iOS 17.3 release and didn’t arrive in its first hotel chain until this week. 

Going forward, guests at select IHG locations will be invited to connect to the TV sets in their rooms via a QR code displayed on the screen. From there, they can stream content from the apps on their iPhones and iPads or use their device as a remote to navigate the menus on the TV, essentially rendering the TV remote useless during their stay. 

AirPlay also supports multiple devices, meaning friends and family members sharing one room can all connect to the TV during their stay. 

Not only is AirPlay more sanitary than a traditional remote, but it also means that iPhone users can enjoy a wider variety of shows and movies while away from home. Hotel guests can swipe through holiday pics, play games on Apple Arcade, work out with Apple Fitness+, practice presentations, and listen to music using the TV’s speakers. 

AirPlay is only available in IHG locations right now, with 60 hotels and resorts in the US, Canada, and Mexico offering support for the feature. 

Loser: Amazon 

Amazon is this week’s loser as the company reportedly made it more difficult to subscribe to Prime Video without registering for Prime delivery. 

The change was reported by Cord Busters who spotted that attempts to sign up to the Prime Video-only tier in the UK and US were being redirected to the sign-up page for a full Prime account. The outlet later updated its report to reflect that the cheaper tier had not been axed but had been removed from Amazon’s primary sign-up pages, making it harder for new subscribers to find.

The Prime Video-only tier, which launched in 2016, made it possible to stream popular shows and movies from Prime Video without committing to a full Prime membership in exchange for a discounted subscription. That means no access to additional benefits like on-day and same-day delivery, Amazon Music, Prime Try Before You Buy, and Deliveroo Plus. 

While for many the perks of a full Prime membership outweigh its higher price, there are still users happy to pay for access to Prime shows and movies and leave the rest if it means saving a few quid every month. The Prime Video-only plan is Amazon’s lowest-priced streaming tier aside from its student plan, making it an easy win for anyone wanting to stream the new Fallout series while also juggling multiple other streaming subscriptions.

The Prime Video-only tier costs £5.99/month in the UK and $8.99/month in the US, while a full Prime membership comes in at £8.99/month in the UK or $14.99/month in the US. That’s a potential £3/$5 saving if you know to look for the tier.

Thankfully, Amazon has only removed the option from its main sign-up pages. However, with the prices of streaming services continuing to rise, it might only be a matter of time before the company chooses to bin it entirely.