Apple TV Plus will officially launch November 2 at just $7.99 per month—a noteworthy reveal as Apple seeks to muscle its way into the streaming wars and take on long-standing giants like Netflix.
When it releases this fall, the company will only be releasing a select few of its originals, including Dickinson and The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, and Reese Witherspoon, one the company has poured a ton of resources into creating and promoting. But with so few original offerings right out of the gate, it puts Apple at odds with streaming giants with successful movies and series—specifically in the case of Netflix, which has placed its bet on churning out as much original content as possible to keep its subscribers returning.
The only new show that Apple gave the spotlight to for its big event today was See, starring Jason Momoa.
How It Stacks Up: Netflix’s basic plan, its cheapest, clocks in at $9.99 while its standard and premium plans—which allow HD, and in the latter’s case, Ultra HD streaming—are respectively priced at $13.99 and $17.99.
A basic Stan subscription costs $10 a month, and also offers $14 and $17 options. Disney+ will launch $8.99 a month.
What to Know: We knew that Apple TV+ would launch with a handful of originals, though whether or not those would prove real competitors with the kinds of high-quality series that can be found elsewhere has been somewhat up for debate. The Financial Times reported in August that Apple had devoted $US6 billion to its original shows and movies, including “hundreds of millions” on The Morning Show alone.
However, rumours that Tim Cook had prohibited programming from including any sex or gratuitous violence has dogged the service ahead of its official release, leading to a presumption that Apple’s streaming service will be about as clean-cut as the company itself. A rumour last year that the service was being referred to as “expensive NBC” didn’t exactly do it any favours. Apple, for what its worth, maintains that it won’t be nearly as shitty as Netflix and that there will, at the very least, be some language to help pry it out of the decidedly bland territory it seems to be occupying at the moment.