Apple TV+: everything you need to know

Like Disney and AT&T, Apple entered the streaming wars with a service called Apple TV+ (Apple TV Plus). And while it doesn’t have a library of services like Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime or Hulu, some of the biggest names in Hollywood are getting big bucks to create exclusive content for the service. Interested in trying Apple TV+? Here’s everything you need to know.

Try Apple TV+

Cost and availability

Apple TV+ launched on November 1, 2019 and costs $5 a month. That makes it $4 cheaper than Netflix’s lower tier subscription, and much less than the $16 per month Premium membership.

Not convinced? If you buy a new Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Mac, you can get Apple TV+ for a year at no additional cost (though this will obviously depend on the country you’re in). Students who subscribe to Apple Music for $5 a month can get Apple TV+ for free. For everyone else, a bundle is said to be in the works that will combine Apple TV+ and Apple Music, which will cost $15 a month.

Current and future content

Apple TV+’s launch lineup and upcoming projects include series and movies from many high-profile actors and filmmakers. Here’s a list of upcoming content coming to Apple TV+ over the next few months:

• Home Before Dark: April 3

• Home: April 17

• Here We Are: Notes for Living On Planet Earth: April 17

• Beastie Boys Story: April 24

• Defending Jacob: April 24

• Trying: May 1

• Central Park: May 29

• Dear: June 5

Home Before Dark is an American television web-drama-mystery series created by Dana Fox and Dara Resnik and produced for Apple TV+. The plot revolves around a girl who moves to a lakeside town where her father once lived. While there, she discovers a cold case that everyone, including her father, tried to bury. The series will debut on April 3.

Beastie Boys Story is an American documentary, directed, produced and written by Spike Jonze, along with Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz. Here, former Beastie Boys members Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz tell you an intimate and personal story of their band and their 40-year friendship together. The documentary will be released on April 24.

Defending Jacobes an American TV-web miniseries and crime drama, based on the novel of the same name by William Landay, produced by Apple TV+. The series begins after a shocking crime rocks a small town, where an assistant district attorney finds himself torn between his sworn duty to uphold the law and his unconditional love for his son. The miniseries will debut on April 24.

Central Park is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard (creator of Bob’s Burgers), Nora Smith and Josh Gad for Apple TV+. The series will debut on May 29.

The most popular series on Apple TV+ is The Morning Show, a drama starring and executive produced by Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell, exploring the world of morning news and the ego, ambition and misguided quest for power behind the people who help America wake up in the morning.

Apple TV + also includes the alternate history drama For All Mankind, a series by Ronald D. Moore that imagines what would have happened if the global space race had never ended and the space program remained the cultural centerpiece of America’s hopes and dreams.

Servant is a series-thriller that, according to its executive producer, M. Night Shyamalan, could have 60 half-hour episodes.

See, an epic drama starring Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard, is set 600 years in the future after a virus has decimated humanity (!!) and blinded the remaining population. When all of humanity has lost their sense of sight, humans must adapt and find new ways to survive.

Dickinson, a darkly comic story about what it means to move from adolescence to adulthood, exploring the limitations of society, gender and family through the eye of young poet Emily Dickinson.

Devices

Of course, Apple TV+ is available on all modern Apple hardware, including all iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices capable of running the latest operating systems, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, and third-generation Apple TV. You can access Apple TV+ through Safari, Chrome or Firefox web browsers, Samsung smart TVs and Roku devices. It has been a while since it arrived on Amazon Fire TV devices as well.

The Apple TV app also recently arrived on Vizio SmartCast TVs, allowing users to use Apple TV+ and various Apple TV channels, such as Showtime, Paramount+ and Starz. Vizio owners can also enjoy Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit capabilities, which allow users to stream, control and share content directly from their iPhone, iPad or Mac. In other words, Vizio TVs just got a lot friendlier to iOS users.

Audio and video

All original series on Apple TV+ will be available in 4K HDR and most will also support Dolby Atmos sound. Apple TV+ supports up to six simultaneous streams through one subscription, and up to six family members can create their own profiles with their own Apple login credentials. Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users can also download content from Apple TV+ for offline viewing.

Beating Netflix at its own game

It’s no longer a secret that Apple TV Plus wants to beat Netflix at its own game: original productions. The tech giant plans to make six mid-budget movies each year, with the intention of generating buzz for Apple TV Plus and garnering Academy Award nominations.

According to the New York Post, the original Apple TV Plus movies will cost between $5 million and $30 million each and will be made by well-known Hollywood talent. The move towards original content was inspired by Roma, directed by Mexican Alfonso Cuarón, which was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 2019, and won the Best Foreign Film category. For their part Focus Features, the studio behind BlacKkKlansman, Lady Bird and Dallas Buyer’s Club, were also a big inspiration.

However, Apple doesn’t have the kind of cumulative content that Disney is leveraging to explosively launch its Disney Plus service, nor does it have the same Hollywood connections as Netflix or Hulu. In addition to drawing attention to Apple TV Plus during awards season, producing new movies will be a good way to generate material for its streaming service, though it’s not out of the question that the company will buy an entire library of productions from some good bidder.