Summary
- Apple TV+ focuses on quality, not quantity, with a small library of just over 130 titles.
- The streamer boasts top-notch production values and A-list talent in its shows.
- Apple TV+ has a high batting average thanks to its well-made, enjoyable shows and weekly release schedule.
When it comes to the world of streaming, quantity is the name of the game. Netflix, the leader of the pack, often drops as many as a dozen new shows and movies each week, while other paid and free streamers like Disney+, Max, and Tubi rely on both a bevy of new content, and large libraries of catalog titles. Among the streamers, though, there is one big outlier: Apple TV+.
Apple’s foray into streaming launched in November 2019 with just six shows. There were the dramas For All Mankind, The Morning Show, and See, along with the comedy Dickinson, and the children’s shows Ghostwriter and Helpsters. Since then, Apple’s library has grown considerably, but not outrageously.
The streamer, which drops episodes of its shows weekly, tends to have only three or four shows running simultaneously. This has meant a steady pace of new content, but nothing overwhelming. In the six years since its launch, Apple TV+ has amassed a library of just over 130 titles across all its original movies and TV shows. A far cry from the thousands of original and catalog titles available on other streaming services.
Apple TV+
- Price
- $9.99 per month
- Free trial
- 7 day free trial and 3 months free if you buy an Apple device
- Simultaneous streams
- 6
- # of profiles
- 6
- Originals
- Yes
- Live TV:
- Limited (There are live sports and some add-on channels offer live TV)
Having a small library, though, is not a bad thing. In fact, in Apple TV+’s case, the small library is its greatest asset. Quality, not quantity.
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All the money in the world
Apple TV+ is all about prestige
Apple TV+
When Apple decided to get into the streaming business, it had one major advantage: a heck of a lot of money. Apple is one of the most cash-rich companies in the world, and they put that money to use with their programming. Apple TV+ shows spare no expanse, and the difference is usually very clear next to shows from the other big streamers and networks. While the rest reserve big budgets for their biggest shows, Apple goes all out on almost everything they produce.
The biggest A-list stars on the planet.
The result is TV shows that look fantastic, with the highest possible production values. And it’s not just how everything looks either. There’s also the talent involved. Behind the camera, Apple has hired some of the best in the business to produce great shows, including M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón, Alena Amith, Steven Spielberg, David S. Goyer, Bill Lawrence, Megan Ganz, and others.
In front of the camera, Apple likes to go even bigger, pulling out all the stops to get some of the biggest A-list stars on the planet, including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Chris Evans, Tom Holland, Jason Momoa, Elisabeth Moss, Natalie Portman, Jason Segel, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Jake Gyllenhaal, Austin Butler, and plenty more. It’s really too many to name, and it’s all in the name of quality.
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A great batting average
The fun of sampling
Apple TV+
Because Apple doesn’t go overboard producing too many shows, and thanks to the big budgets, the shows they do make tend to reach a certain bar for quality, or at the very least watchability. The batting average for Apple TV+ shows is simply much higher than other streamers. With so few titles, fans can still point to the likes of Ted Lasso, Severance, Shrinking, For All Mankind, Foundation, Slow Horses, and plenty of others are some of the best TV out there.
When the shows tend to be this good, and this well-made, sampling new ones is a lot of fun
The high batting average and smaller number of shows also means it’s easier to browse through their offerings and give something a try. When the shows tend to be this good, and this well-made, sampling new ones is a lot of fun. Often, even the lesser shows are still a treat, like the Rashida Jones sci-fi series Sunny, a show that didn’t quite stick the landing, but was so impeccably made that the letdown didn’t feel so harsh.
Because it feels safer to take a chance on an Apple TV+ show, more than with any other streamer, I’ll often just browse through the titles I haven’t seen and just put one on. Often, I’ll be surprised at the quality, including shows nobody else seems to be talking about. M. Night Shyamalan’s mystery-horror series Servant, for example, is one of the best in recent years. The sci-fi mystery Shining Girls, starring Elisbeth Moss turned out to be a compelling, emotionally satisfying watch, as well.
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Week-to-week
There’s always something on Apple TV+
Apple TV+
One of the best things Apple has done with its relatively small library is stick to a weekly release schedule. Rather than operate on Netflix’s binge model, in which a show debuts and is then out of the public consciousness a week later when the next shows drop, Apple TV+ takes a page out of HBO’s playbook.
Not only do new episodes drop weekly, Apple TV+ staggers its release pattern so that there’s almost always something good to watch. When one show ends, there’s usually another one waiting in the wings, or already airing. Just recently, the hit Shrinking led into the highly-anticipated new season Severance, which will end right as the new Seth Rogen comedy series The Studio premieres. With Apple TV+ there’s always something good around the corner.
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If you have Apple TV+, which programs are keeping you loyal?
When Apple debuted its own in-house streaming service in November 2019, the tech giant went about things differently than many of its contemporaries. Where the likes of Netflix, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime TV primarily sign on existing intellectual properties (IPs) from established film and TV studios, Apple decided to exclusively endow its Apple TV+ service with original content from the get-go.In the years since, Apple has expanded its TV+ reach, introducing a number of high-profile movies and TV shows to the service which can’t be streamed anywhere else. On the movie side, popular Apple Original films include Wolfs, The Family Plan, CODA, and The Instigators. On the TV show front, meanwhile, Severance, Slow Horses, Presumed Innocent and Palm Royale top the popularity charts.It’s become clear that original programming is a deeply important factor within the streaming industry, and that a lack of compelling on-demand movies and shows can spell disaster for a streamer’s market rel
