Yesterday, in what was a very star-studded presentation at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, CA, Apple finally announced its new streaming service, Apple TV+. Suffice it to say, the forthcoming lineup looks good, and all we want to know is how we can watch it all and how long we'll have to wait.
In addition to the original content coming from Apple later this year, it was also announced yesterday that the Apple TV app is getting an exciting revamp: a new à la carte–style subscription service called Apple TV Channels, which will offer the likes of Showtime, Starz, HBO, CBS All Access, Bravo, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade, and tons more. This means that instead of toggling between services, you can access everything you want to watch (reportedly from over 150 third-party video channels and streaming services) within the same app, without paying for bundles that include extra channels you don't need. The new app will be available starting May via a software update.
But Apple TV+ and the new channel service aren't just for users who have Apple TVs. The Apple TV app, which is currently available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, is also coming to Samsung smart TVs starting this spring, and to Amazon Fire TV, LG, Roku, Sony, and VIZIO platforms at some point after that. Plus it will also be coming to Mac this fall.
While there isn't an official launch date yet for Apple TV+, Tim Cook announced that it will also be coming this fall. (And it'll be worth the wait, if Oprah, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Sara Bareilles, and Reese Witherspoon should serve as any indication.) The content will be ad-free and available to watch on and offline anywhere you can use the Apple TV app. Plus, all content — both original and not — is compatible with Family Sharing. No word on the price point, but clearly Apple is hoping that viewers will flock to its new Apple TV app as a one-stop shop for all streaming content, instead of viewing Apple TV+ as yet another streaming service to add to what is an already crowded field.