Apple’s forthcoming streaming service has a name, Apple TV+, and a slew of big-time stars, but the many of the important details are still secret…
Apple officially announced Apple TV Plus, a subscription service for its exclusive original shows and films, at a splashy event in March at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. After showering an estimated $2 billion across Hollywood for more than a year and trotting out some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and heavy hitters to sing its praises, Apple finally confirmed it plans to launch the Netflix competitor sometime in the fall offering original TV shows and movies.
Since then, the company has released teasers for two of its big originals: For All Mankind, a period piece from the creator of Battlestar Galactica that presents an alternative history in which Russian put the first person on the moon, and The Morning Show, a drama about a morning news broadcast starring Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell. Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Jason Momoa and other big names are also on board.
But Apple has been silent about some of the most important details that future subscribers need to know. The company played coy on specifics including how much the Apple TV Plus will cost, how many programs will be available at launch and whether Apple will drop all episodes in a season all at once, a la Netflix.
Here’s what we actually know…
MacDailyNews Take: Some analysts, BTIG’s Rich Greenfield for example, think Apple will give its programming for free to owners of Apple devices.
We like that idea because it would be so thoroughly disruptive to the world of fake iPhone, pretend iPads, and cheapo cheeseball Apple TV knockoffs and streaming sticks.
If not – this is Apple, after all, and you may have noticed that they generally don’t like to give things away – there may at least be a free trial period. If so, that would either preclude the company from dropping entire seasons at once for binging or Apple could offer episode 1 of every series for free).
So, Apple TV+ could cost anywhere from $4.99 (seems too low) to $14.99 per month (seems high, but we’d probably pay it). $9.99 strikes us as a plausible monthly charge at launch, with potential discounts for families and students à la Apple Music.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
As a standalone service, I think $4.99 per month is a fair price given what the other major streaming services are priced at. For subscribers of Apple Music, it would be great if Apple offered it for free.
Apple! $4.99! Hahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa… Where’s the profit in that for Apple? This is about Apple, not about Apple subscribers.
The issue gets down to how much of a consumer’s wallet can Apple get without becoming too obvious, I tried Apple News + for a bit, but there was sufficient (read overwhelming) news on the internet and it just wasn’t worth the money.
Apple is more than aware of the competition for each premium time slot, and the fact that they have to pull loyal fans of successful shows rom their established routines. Being able to record new shows will help.
This is just going to be an interesting effort. I just hope they do a better job than they have done on News +
This is Apple. It will cost 10-30% more than the average equivalent competition. Why? Because Apple enthusiasts are conditioned to not cross shop.
I’ll guess $9.99 to $12.99