Apple TV Plus: Sign up, TV shows, movies, price, devices and more
Apple TV Plus can’t compete with some of the best streaming services, like Netflix or Prime Video, when it comes to the size of its content library. However, it has taken a quality-over-quantity approach by hiring phenomenal talent and producing some fantastic movies and TV shows. It’s no surprise that Apple TV Plus is one of the best streaming services you can subscribe to today.
In our guide below, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Apple TV Plus, including details on pricing, the TV shows and movies you can watch now, and which devices Apple TV Plus works with. For more information, you can also read our Apple TV Plus review.
Apple TV Plus: How do I sign up?
Signing up for Apple TV Plus is easy. Just visit the Apple TV Plus website and you’ll see options to subscribe, including a free seven-day trial for new users.
You can also check out Apple One, which lets you combine Apple TV Plus with other services, including Apple Music, Apple News Plus, and Apple Arcade, for one monthly fee.
Apple TV Plus Price: How Much Does it Cost?
Apple TV Plus costs $9.99 / £8.99 / AU$12.99 per month, or $99.99 / £89.99 / $129.99 (Australia) per year. If you buy a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV you will get three months of Apple TV Plus for free, though terms and conditions apply. Soccer fans can also watch Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and every other Major League Soccer team in action with an additional MLS Season Pass. It will cost you $14.99 / £14.99 / AU$22.99 per month to subscribe.
Following Apple’s October 2023 price hikes, Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, and Disney Plus’ “ads-with” plans will all be cheaper than the standard (ad-free) Apple TV Plus plan. However, these other services come with the caveat that you’ll have to sit through the occasional commercial break, and likely won’t be able to enjoy your favorite shows and movies in 4K like you can on Apple TV Plus.
Max’s Ad-Lite subscriptions cost the same as an Apple TV Plus subscription, but like Netflix, Prime Video and other subscriptions, it has a larger library of content.
So, from being one of the cheaper streaming options on the market just a few months ago, an Apple TV Plus subscription isn’t as appealing as it once was – despite having a library full of quality movies and TV. Rumors have it that Apple TV Plus could be the next streamer to get an ad-based tier. This would be frustrating if you’re not a fan of ads, but could mean this tier will cost a lot less. We’ll keep you posted.
Apple TV Plus Free Trial: Does It Exist?
Apple TV Plus has a seven-day free trial, after which you’ll be automatically set up on recurring billing for a monthly fee. Signing up for a trial is easy: Simply download Apple TV, which includes all of the Apple TV Plus content, and you’ll be greeted with an ad for the service, as well as an invitation to sign up for a free trial.
The free trial gives you access to everything on the service for those seven days, so make the most of it, especially since you only get one free trial for Apple TV Plus.
Apple TV Plus devices
Apple TV Plus will be available on almost all devices in 2024, including: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD, Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, LG Smart TVs, Sony Smart TVs, Vizio, Roku devices, desktop browsers, Android TV, Google TV, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Is Apple TV Plus available for Android?
While Apple has made the Apple TV Plus app available on the Google Play Store for Android TV devices, there is currently no Apple TV Plus app for Android devices. That said, Android users can watch the streamer in a supported web browser. Find out how in our guide on how to get the Apple TV Plus app on iOS and Android.
What are Apple TV Channels?
In addition to Apple TV Plus, Apple introduced Apple TV Channels, which combines cable subscription services and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video into the Apple TV app. Unfortunately, Apple TV Channels does not include Netflix. Availability varies by region. Learn more about Apple TV Plus channels here.
The Best Apple TV Plus Shows
It may only be five years old, but Apple TV Plus has managed to produce an impressive list of high-quality original TV content. Our guide to the best Apple TV Plus shows has a comprehensive overview of what’s available, but below’s a lightning-quick tour of the series worth watching right now:
- The Afterparty
- Bad sisters
- Black bird
- Criminal record
- Dark matter
- Five days at Memorial
- For all humanity
- Foundation
- Hijacking
- Chemistry lessons
- Masters of the air
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
- The morning show
- Mythical quest
- Pachinko
- Physically
- Platonic
- Presumed innocent
- Schmigadoon!
- To see
- Servant
- Parting
- Radiant girls
- Shrink
- Silo
- Sugar
- Slow horses
- Ted Lasso
- Try
The Best Apple TV Plus Movies
Apple TV Plus may not boast the sheer number of movies available on many of the best streaming services out there, but it certainly doesn’t skimp on quality. In fact, when Apple’s CODA won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Picture, becoming the first film made by a streamer to take home the top prize on Oscar night.
Apple has since provided funding Murderers of the Flower Moon And Napoleon – find out where they rank in our guides to the best Martin Scorsese movies and the best Ridley Scott movies respectively – proving they’re committed to investing in prestige projects.
Below is a quick overview of the movies currently available on the platform. For a more comprehensive overview, check out our guide to the best Apple TV movies.
- The banker
- Connecting road
- Cha Cha Really Soft
- CODA
- Fantasy dance
- Flora and son
- The biggest beer run ever
- Greyhound
- Hello
- Murderers of the Flower Moon
- On the rocks
- Palmer
- Past lives
- Lively
- Still: A film by Michael J. Fox
- Swan song
- Tetris
- The Tragedy of Macbeth
- The velvet rabbit
- Wolf walkers
- You hurt my feelings
Apple TV Plus vs. Other Streamers: What’s the Difference?
Apple TV Plus does not currently offer large amounts of licensed content, as Netflix and its rivals do with, among other things, Seinfeld, Frasier, I can destroy you And Flea bag.
As TechRadar reported in November 2022, the platform has been experimenting with adding third-party movies to its offering, and you can also watch a few vintage TV shows, such as the 1980s puppet show Fraggle Rock and classical Charlie Brown cartoons. Apple TV Plus has also added a number of third-party movies to its library in recent months, but only in the US. More than 50 Licensed Movies Landed on Apple TV Plus and another one 30 Classic Movies thanks to deals with studios like Universal, Sony and Warner Bros. Pictures. They won’t be around forever, though, so go see them.
In general, if you want to watch content other than the original content in the Apple TV Plus library, you will need to purchase it through iTunes or other services in Apple TV Channels.
For more information about Apple TV Plus, read our guides on Foundation season 3 and Parting season 2.
