Apple has launched its streaming video subscription service, making immediately available for subscribers a varied and sizable library of content. To access the service, you do need to sign up for a $4.99 per month subscription, but if you’ve purchased any new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac since the beginning of September, and you’re signed in to the Apple ID associated with those devices and on those devices, the subscribe button should show that you get one full year of free trial service applied automatically.
Apple TV+ content lives in the Apple TV app that’s available across macOS, Apple TV, iOS and iPadOS devices, and which should be pre-installed already unless you’ve deleted it from your device or you’re running an older version of the operating system. Shows from the new program will then show up in a dedicated AppleTV+ row in the app’s home screen, as well as throughout the interface in various places.
At launch you’ll find “The Morning Show,” “See,” “For All Mankind,” “Dickinson,” “Snoopy in Space,” “Ghostwriter,” and “Helpsters,” as well as the documentary feature “The Elephant Queen” and talk show “Oprah’s Book Club.” Some of these offer the first three episodes, with others to follow on a staged-release schedule, while others include the full season all available to view at launch.
Of course, you can either stream or download these for offline viewing, and AppleTV+ will remember your progress, so long as you have an internet connection, and pick up where you left off across your connected devices. All Apple TV+ content is in 4K, and most also offer Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support.
I literally just turned on “The Morning Show” for a few seconds to make sure everything was working, so no opinions yet on the quality of the actual content. But if you’ve recently picked up any new Apple hardware, it’s definitely worth checking out for the free trial period, at least.