After\nyears of speculation and on-again, off-again rumors, Apple has finally unveiled\nits biggest push into streaming video: Apple TV Plus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CEO\nTim Cook just announced the service \u2014 featuring Apple\u2019s original programming \u2014\nalongside a redesigned, more advanced Apple TV app at the Steve Jobs Theater.\n\u201cAs you can tell, today is going to be a very different kind of event,\u201d Cook\nsaid to kick things off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nintroduction of Apple TV Plus, which the company says will become \u201cthe new home\nfor the world\u2019s most creative storytellers featuring exclusive original shows,\nmovies and documentaries\u201d was led by a video featuring Hollywood director\nSteven Spielberg and stars attached to the shows that will help shape Apple\u2019s\nservice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spielberg\nsaid that he will be resurrecting the 93-year-old Amazing Stories brand for\nApple TV Plus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reese\nWitherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carell then took the stage to discuss\nanother Apple original called The Morning Show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nparade of celebrities (including Jason Momoa, Alfre Woodard, Kumail Nanjiani,\nJ.J. Abrams, Sara Bareilles, and even Big Bird) continued on, with each going\nover the many shows headed to Apple TV Plus \u2014 eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple is expected to spend $2 billion this year on original content that it hopes can stand toe to toe with shows from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s got some catching up to do (Netflix is spending billions more in 2019), and the company didn\u2019t show trailers or clips for many of the projects it went over, as a good number are still in the works. It did show a short video montage featuring several shows, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple TV Plus will be ad-free, available on demand, and viewable both online and offline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple plans to launch it in over 100 countries sometime this fall, though it did not disclose pricing today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019ll access Apple TV Plus through the redesigned Apple TV app on iOS, Mac, Roku, Fire TV, and televisions from various manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aside from making a big originals push, Apple is equally focused on making its Apple TV app, which is free to use, the centerpiece of a consumer\u2019s various video subscriptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Onstage, the company announced Apple TV Channels, which will let customers pay for HBO, Showtime, Starz, CBS All Access, and other services directly through the TV app and watch everything there, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple will be handling the streams and promises top-tier picture and audio quality for all Apple TV Channels it offers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A redesigned TV app is coming in May, and Apple says it will make finding the latest must-watch shows easier and surface recommendations from over 150 third-party video apps that Apple will offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\ndesigned a new TV experience where you can pay for only the channels you want,\nall in one app, with the password you already have,\u201d said Apple\u2019s Peter Stern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWatch\neverything on demand and ad-free. Download your shows to take with you\nanywhere. Enjoy the highest quality picture and sound available,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nApple TV app has been entirely redesigned to let you watch everything in one\nplace, whereas the old one would switch you over to third-party apps when it\nactually came time to watch something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo\nmore bouncing around from app to app,\u201d Stern said. There are some exceptions to\nthat, however: Netflix isn\u2019t backing the new TV app, and so it doesn\u2019t offer\nthis integration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nit sounds like even Amazon and Hulu will allow their content to be watched\nwithin the Apple TV app, which is a significant achievement for Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nJanuary, Tim Cook said Apple had reached 1.4 billion active iOS devices; those\nscreens (and the TV app that comes preinstalled on them) will be critical to\nthe service\u2019s success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today,\nApple confirmed the TV app will be coming to the Mac soon, and the company has\nalso announced an iTunes Movies and TV app for Samsung TVs, just one step to\nreach customers beyond its own devices. That same app will be coming to\ntelevisions from Sony, LG, Vizio, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Serving\nas a hub for video subscriptions isn\u2019t a new idea: Amazon started down this\npath with its add-on Prime Video Channels, which allow Prime members to stream\nprogramming from third parties like HBO, Showtime, Starz, CBS, and others by\npaying for each service separately through their Amazon billing account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Convenience is really the name of the game, and putting everything in one place is much simpler for people who are trying to track what they\u2019re spending on these services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple\u2019s execution is a bit different since it doesn\u2019t require a major service like Prime as a prerequisite before consumers can buy subscriptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the barrier of entry is lower. Apple will be taking a cut of each subscription it sells, which will help further boost revenues for the company\u2019s services division. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s crucial as Apple looks for other reliable profit sources in a world of flat iPhone sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But back to Apple TV Plus to close this out: there\u2019s still a lot we don\u2019t yet know, with price leading the way followed by the selection that customers will be seeing at launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n