Apple TV is an 📝Apple product: a subscription streaming service for original series, films, and live sports, watched through the Apple TV app — distinct from the Apple TV 4K set-top box that shares its name. Launched in November 2019 as Apple TV+ with an all-original catalog, it built its reputation on prestige series such as 📝Ted Lasso, Severance, 📝Silo, and 📝Foundation rather than a licensed back catalog, competing with 📝Netflix at a fraction of its subscriber base; in October 2025 Apple dropped the plus sign and renamed the service Apple TV. It is available in more than 100 countries for $12.99 a month in the U.S., and the app runs on 📝iPhone, iPad, Mac, 📝Vision Pro, Apple TV hardware, and many smart TVs, game consoles, and streaming devices.
Foundation is the show that hooked me here — I came to it without having read Asimov, and the third-season finale stunned me.
Key Features
- Apple Originals — an all-original slate of series and films, including prestige dramas, comedies, documentaries, and theatrical releases such as F1 The Movie after their run.
- Live sports — Friday Night Baseball and, from 2026 under a five-year U.S. deal, every Formula 1 practice, qualifying session, and race, with select sessions free in the app.
- Apple TV Channels — add-on subscriptions to third-party services such as Paramount+ and Starz, billed through Apple and watched inside the same Apple TV app alongside the originals.
- Store — buy or rent movies and TV episodes à la carte in the Apple TV app, with no subscription required and purchases kept in one library across every signed-in Apple device.
- Family Sharing and Apple One — one subscription covers up to six people through Family Sharing, and the service is also bundled into every tier of the Apple One services subscription.
Getting Started
- Open the Apple TV app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, or go to tv.apple.com in a web browser.
- Sign in with an Apple Account and start a subscription, or a free trial when one is offered.
- On a smart TV, game console, or streaming stick, install the Apple TV app from its app store.
- Turn on Family Sharing so up to five family members can watch on the same subscription.