Apple TV+ – Is It Worth It? Everything You Need To Know

I got Apple TV+ a few months back when I bought my new iPhone SE. It’s a nice little bonus that Apple has given us, to watch their new subscription TV service which is £4.99 in the UK.

A few months has past, and I’ve watched a few things on there.

Here’s what I think of Apple TV+ and if I think it’s worth it.

So as mentioned I got this for free with my phone, and currently if you buy any Apple hardware, you get it free for a year. There’s a few things I’ve liked about it, but a lot I don’t.

Here’s the low down on everything.

Not Enough Content

Simply put, there’s not enough content, or good content available. I have watched The Morning Show which I think was brilliant. It’s a 10 episode drama which is perfect for 2020 and was so good to watch.

It’s a great drama and I always looked forward to watching it. The only complaint about the show was the amount of product placement.

It became so noticeable that there were so many Apple products on display. It was almost like a game watching, to see if I could see any more Apple products.

Another thing I have watched was The Beastie Boys live documentary. Once again I loved watching it. I love things like that, and this didn’t disappoint.

I think the only other show I’d currently consider watching is Ted Lasso…Feel free to let me know if there’s other great shows I’ve missed.

Bad Navigation: Premium Paid Content At The Forefront

The worst thing about Apple TV+ is the placement of premium paid content. This is not helped by poor navigation.

The extra paid for stuff is mixed in with the free stuff, so you’ll see something interesting, only to find that it costs extra.

To me, it appears that there’s such a big push for paid-for content. This can be a one-off charge for a film or series, or paying per month for an extra “channel”.

While Amazon Prime Video does this too, it’s much more clear in the way it does it though it’s navigation. Amazon Prime Video also has a huge back catalogue of content available in it’s package.

What is worse is that there’s content free elsewhere, which is paid for on Apple TV+.

This includes shows such as ones available on the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and Dave which we can already watch for free.

Apple TV+ Buffering All The Time

Buffering in 2020? You better believe it!

For some reason, I’ve never watched anything on Apple TV+ without buffering. All 10 episodes of The Morning Show had buffering issues while watching, multiple times per episode. The same thing happened with The Beastie Boys live documentary.

Now, I don’t have the fastest internet connection (20mb), but I never have this issue on any other platform. Amazon Video, Disney+, YouTube, the web in general, everything is fine. The only time this happens is through Apple TV+.

And this happens when only watching shows on Apple TV+, not while browsing or using the connection for anything else. I watched The Morning Show over a 2 week period and had this issue, so it’s not like it was one bad day.

Needless to say, this completely ruins the experience of watching a show. It’s bad for it to happen to a 1 hour TV show, but I can imagine it being a whole lot worse for a feature film.

Is Apple TV+ Worth It?

In my opinion Apple TV+ is not worth it (at the moment). It would usually cost £4.99, which is less than rivals. However even with the lower price, I don’t think I’ll be paying once my year is up.

I am not sure what the buffering was all about, but if that constantly happens then it’s obviously a deal breaker.

I did love watching The Morning Show and The Beastie Boys Live Documentary, and might even watch them again. If you want to watch only those shows, get it for a month, as these two shows alone are worth paying for a month.

I got this free for a year, and once that is over, I’ll likely stop. If there’s some unbelievable content I really want to see I might continue, but I don’t think that will happen.