On November 1, 2019 Apple joined the ranks of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ with its personal unique streaming service. Apple TV contains a huge assortment of reveals and many extra within the pipeline funded by Apple’s mountainous money pile.
Under, you’ll discover a compendium of every little thing we find out about Apple’s streaming platform.
Up to date October 17, 2025: Apple has formally modified the identify of Apple TV+ to simply Apple TV.
How do I entry Apple TV?
You may enroll and watch Apple TV content material by the TV app, which is offered on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and the Mac. It’s additionally accessible on many recreation consoles, sensible TVs, Roku, and Hearth TV units. You too can watch Apple TV on a browser at television.apple.com.
The expertise of the TV app, although, varies from gadget to gadget. On a Roku, sensible TV, recreation console, or in a browser, you’ll solely see Apple’s personal content material. That features Apple TV content material in addition to Apple TV Channels and any motion pictures or TV reveals you’ve bought by iTunes or the TV app.
On iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV {hardware}, you’ll additionally see reveals from different streaming companies like Hulu, Paramount Plus, HBO, or Amazon Prime. The TV app aggregates content material from supporting third-party apps operating on the gadget. Netflix doesn’t help the function, sadly.
Can I watch Apple TV reveals on non-Apple units?
Sure! You may watch Apple TV by the TV app, which is offered on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and the Mac, in addition to many recreation consoles, sensible TVs, and different streaming units. You probably have a brand new set from Samsung, LG, Sony, or Vizio, you also needs to be capable to use AirPlay 2 to broadcast content material straight out of your iPhone or iPad to the set.
You too can watch on the net utilizing Safari, Chrome, or Firefox by heading to television.apple.com. See: AirPlay suitable TVs which have Apple TV construct in: Information.
How a lot does Apple TV value?
Apple has raised the worth of Apple TV a number of occasions because it’s preliminary worth of simply $4.99 a month. It presently prices $12.99/£9.99 a month. There usually are not a number of “tiers” of Apple TV subscriptions—you all the time get one of the best video and audio high quality, Household Sharing, and all options.
You may renew your subscription for one 12 months for $99/£89, which primarily provides you two months free annually. Alternatively, you possibly can cancel at any time and simply pay for a month if you need to watch a specific present.
Apple TV can be included in all three tiers of the Apple One companies bundle, which ranges from $19.95/£18.95 monthly to $37.95/£36.95 monthly.
Does Apple TV have a free trial?
Sure, nevertheless it solely lasts for seven days, however there are methods to get an extended trial. Learn: The best way to get Apple TV at no cost.
The U.Okay. and South Africa are exceptions—Apple presents no free trial there.
Is something on Apple TV free?
Some persons are understandably confused when having paid for an Apple TV subscription, or purchased an Apple TV set prime field, they discover that solely Apple authentic reveals are included of their subscription. Apple showcasing reveals from different companies, and permitting leases and purchases of different reveals and flicks in all probability doesn’t assist this confusion.
There may be some content material you possibly can watch at no cost even with out an Apple TV subscription although. You may watch the primary episodes of many reveals, which may a minimum of inform you whether or not or to not subscribe to finish the season. Typically Apple makes reveals accessible at no cost, for instance, sure Charlie Brown episodes and a few motion pictures.
Learn: What’s free on Apple TV?
Do Apple TV reveals have advertisements?
No. Although you’ll usually see a trailer for one more Apple TV present earlier than the one you plan to look at. That is much like many different streaming companies, and it’s skippable.
What reveals and flicks can be found proper now?
Subscribing to Apple TV provides you entry to a library of unique content material, reasonably than entry to a giant back-catalog of TV reveals or motion pictures, so there’s not as a lot accessible as on another companies. That mentioned, over time the content material has elevated.
We preserve an in depth checklist of all of the presently accessible content material Apple TV.
Isn’t it referred to as Apple TV+?
In the course of October, 2025, Apple quietly eliminated the “+” from all mentions of the service, and even from the app icon. It’s now simply referred to as Apple TV, which inserts higher with what most individuals appeared to name it anyway, however provides much more confusion between the service and the Apple TV {hardware}.
What reveals and flicks are coming sooner or later?
Apple has nothing if not deep pockets and a want to win. The corporate has spent a small fortune buying unique reveals and flicks from different manufacturing firms and has even began its personal (Apple Studios) to provide its personal.
It’s protected to say there’s rather a lot on the way in which, however the tempo of recent releases pales compared to opponents like Netflix.
We preserve a listing of all of the reveals, collection, and flicks coming to Apple TV.
Does Apple launch episodes as soon as every week or drop complete seasons directly?
Apple’s method varies. With brand-new reveals, Apple will usually launch the primary three episodes directly, with the remainder of the season coming at a price of 1 episode every week. Second seasons and later could begin off at only one every week, and a few restricted collection (particularly documentary collection) make all of the episodes accessible directly.
New releases to Apple TV usually occur on Friday at midnight (so you possibly can watch the most recent episode of Ted Lasso at 9pm on Thursday night time, Pacific Time).
Can I obtain reveals for offline viewing?
Sure, with a few caveats. Apple seems to position no limits on downloads of the identical content material throughout iPhones, iPads, and Macs owned by the identical account. For instance, we downloaded the identical episode of Servant on all three of those units by the TV app with no hassle.
However that’s the place the liberty ends. Apple doesn’t let you obtain Apple TV content material on the Apple TV, nor does it permit for it on different streaming units, sensible TVs, or when watching reveals on a browser.
Reveals you obtain to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac can be accessible for 30 days, after which your units will robotically take away them. You too can manually delete them by the TV app.
Does Apple TV permit simultaneous streaming?
Apple TV permits for six simultaneous streams directly, which is greater than you’ll get from some other on-demand streaming service available on the market. A number of members of the family with Household Sharing can all stream their very own content material directly.
How do I modify the streaming high quality so I don’t burn by my knowledge?
A single episode of an Apple TV present like See can use over 2GB of your cellular knowledge. You may forestall Apple’s service from hogging a lot knowledge in your iPhone or iPad by going to Settings > TV. You’ll see choices to make use of mobile knowledge or not, can change between Automated and Excessive High quality streaming, and might change the standard of downloads over mobile.
Can you utilize Household Sharing with Apple TV?
Sure. A single Apple TV subscription may be shared with as much as 5 extra members of the family.
Every member of the family has their very own watch historical past and proposals—it’s as if they’d their very own particular person subscription.
Are all Apple TV reveals accessible in 4K?
Sure. Early on, Apple introduced that every one reveals can be accessible in 4K HDR/Dolby Imaginative and prescient and that “most” reveals would have Dolby Atmos sound, nevertheless it didn’t say simply how good it could be. In line with FlatplanelsHD’s Rasmus Larsen, Apple TV presents one of the best 4K streaming high quality of any service available on the market. It’s so good, in actual fact, that the 4K bitrates are higher than what you’ll see in some iTunes motion pictures.
When Larsen wrote his publish in November of 2019, See had the very best bitrate of any Apple TV present, with a median bitrate of 29Mbps and a peak of 41Mbps. Snoopy in House averaged 13Mbps, which is spectacular for a cartoon. Netflix’s 4K bitrates, by comparability, are inclined to peak at round 16Mbps.
