The streaming wars have officially had their first new contender launch its hotly anticipated catalog of content, as Apple TV+ is now available for subscribers.
The new streaming platform launched in over 100 countries and regions, offering its new service at $4.99 a month after a seven day free trial. Content available on the platform includes original TV shows and movies which have been bankrolled by the tech giant.
To access the service, you can launch the pre-installed TV app if you own an Apple device such as an iPhone or iPad, or use the app with smart TVs and set-top boxes made by Roku, Samsung, Amazon and so on. For those who want to keep it simple and use the website, you can launch the service by navigating to tv.apple.com on Safari, Firefox or Chrome browsers.
Apple is taking a big step business-wise, as it will now be aiming to sell content and services to those who use Apple hardware, instead of targeting tech to a wider consumer base. During its spring launch event, there were notably no hardware or gadget announcements; Apple instead focused purely on its streaming service.
Billions have reportedly been spent on the content; for example, celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston were allegedly paid 2 million an episode for original series The Morning Show. This content is entering a crowded industry, with existing competitors such as Netflix and Hulu being faced with other new services besides Apple such as Disney+, Peacock and HBO Max coming up in the next few months.
Content available at launch is The Morning Show, See, For All Mankind, Dickinson, Snoopy in Space, Ghostwriter, Helpless, The Elephant Queen and Oprah’s Book Club. The episodes in the series are available in varying formats – while some will have the first three episodes available, others will come out in a more staged schedule and some will have the full season to watch right away.
