Apple TV streaming service review: Great original content, ad-free viewing and all the F1 you can eat

Apple may have dropped the "plus" from Apple TV+, but the streaming service still makes a great addition to your roster. (I'll show myself out.) I honestly never expected that the maker of iPhones and MacBooks would be behind many of the buzziest TV series, well, ever: Pluribus , Shrinking , Severance , Ted Lasso , The Studio and many more. But here we are: In 2026, Apple TV retains the prestige-TV crown.

Yes, the service has raised prices a few times in the last few years, and its track record with movies isn't great. (Oscar-nominated F1 was the only real notable of 2025.) But it's currently the only streamer that doesn't saddle you with ads, and it's still relatively affordable at $13 per month. Apple even made some much-needed improvements to the interface. So is the service worth your time and money? Here's my Apple TV review.

Apple TV: A decent deal, especially if you bundle

An Apple TV subscription costs $12.99 per month, end of story. There are no tiers, no added costs for ad-free viewing, no surcharge if you want to share your subscription with others. In fact, Apple specifically calls out the fact that up to five additional family members (six total) can use the same account, a refreshing change from the Draconian likes of Netflix (no sharing unless you pay extra) and Max (no sharing outside the household, period).

Interestingly, Apple now offers a bundle option : Peacock Premium for an additional $2 per month. That service would cost you $11 if you subscribed separately. And if you want a (mostly) ad-free option, the Apple TV/Peacock Premium Plus bundle costs $20. Either way, it's a not-insignificant savings — and a no-brainer if you want both services.

Just take note of what you're actually getting from Apple TV. While streamers like Netflix and Hulu provide a ton of third-party content and a smattering of originals, Apple's is just the opposite: Mostly original content and a sliver of non-Apple stuff. As a result, the overall library is much smaller: According to streaming guide JustWatch, the service is home to around 260 movies and TV shows . Most competitors' libraries number in the thousands.

Also, while your viewing won't be interrupted by commercials (save for some live sports), you'll often see an ad for other Apple content when you start watching a movie or show. Thankfully, you can skip right past it with one click of your remote.

Apple TV: What's on?

I know many people who subscribed to Apple TV just to watch Severance . Or Ted Lasso . This really is the top spot for original content. I was dazzled by the movie-quality production value of Silo , and I thought the first season of Bad Sisters was among the best dark comedies I've ever seen.

And the hits keep on coming: Pluribus blew me away, and I thought The Studio deserved every award it won. I'm eagerly anticipating the second season of Jon Hamm's drama series, Your Friends & Neighbors .

For kids and families, Apple TV offers a modest selection of shows and movies, including a new Fraggle Rock series, Yo Gabba Gabba and a good helping of Peanuts (new and classic alike). If you're feeling nostalgic for the likes of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown , you'll find it here.

And if you're feeling the need for speed, Apple TV is now home to Formula 1 racing. Included at no extra charge, the dedicated F1 channel streams live and past races along with clips, documentaries and more. For additional details, here's everything you need to know about watching F1 on Apple TV .

Apple also offers an add-on: The Major League Soccer (MLS) Season Pass, which costs $14.99 monthly ($12.99 if you're already an Apple TV subscriber) or $99 per season (or $79 with Apple TV). While MLS Season Pass is also available separately from Apple TV, it's worth noting that anyone holding season tickets to an MLS team gets the Season Pass package at no extra charge . (Some T-Mobile subscribers can get it free as well.)

For all its TV hits, Apple has produced some pretty underwhelming movies: The John Krasinki-led Fountain of Youth received embarrassingly low Rotten Tomatoes scores, and who can forget previous big-budget clunkers like Argylle , Ghosted and Napoleon ?

Of course, as with all streaming services, whether you like Apple TV content depends in large part on what your tastes are. To my thinking, much of what's here qualifies as "prestige TV," with a spared-no-expense level of production quality. Everything on this channel looks good .

Actually using the service, though? Strap in, because this gets confusing.

The three Apple TVs

The weird, unnecessarily complicated branding of "Apple TV" actually refers to three distinct entities. The first is the Apple TV 4K box , a media streamer that starts at $129 and competes with generally more affordable devices from the likes of Roku, Amazon and Google. (See my list of the best streaming devices to learn more.)

The second is the Apple TV app, which is available on all of those devices and most new smart TVs. Within that app — and here's where things really get convoluted, like on an Inception level — you can access at least three separate buckets of content. The first is the video store, aka the current iteration of what used to affectionately be known as iTunes. This is where you rent and buy movies and TV shows a-la-carte.

You can also subscribe to subscription channels and link to third-party streaming services — though your flexibility in that regard varies depending upon the service and the device on which you're running the Apple TV app. For instance, you can subscribe to AMC+, Hallmark+ and MGM+ in the Apple TV app (but only some versions), and the resulting shows and movies will appear alongside Apple TV originals. But larger services like Peacock, Max and Paramount+ can only be linked to their respective apps, and only on Apple devices. So a show like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will appear in search, but clicking on it will jump you over to the Paramount+ app. (Did I mention this is all confusing as hell?) But you won't see any Netflix shows, because that streamer hasn't yet cut a deal with Apple, and seems to be in no rush to do so.

The third incarnation of the Apple TV moniker is, er, Apple TV, the subscription service we've been talking about here. (It was slightly easier when it was called Apple TV+, but Apple decided, nah, that might be too clear for some people.) So, Apple TV content lives on the Apple TV app, which you may or may not be accessing on an Apple TV box. Got it? (Didn't think so.)

Apple TV's interface: Better, but still needs work

I'm glad to report that with the arrival of tvOS 26 last year, a few frustrating UI irritations have disappeared — but others remain. I tested both the Google TV and Roku versions; they're now almost identical, though the former still lacks a store: You can't buy or rent anything or add a trial subscription to another service. (The same is true of the Amazon Fire TV version.)

The interface consists of a side menu and large, visually pleasing tiles — though some would say too large, because you can only ever see one complete row at a time; the ones above and below are cut off. And each row contains only between three and six tiles (depending on where you are in the UI and whether they're oriented horizontally or vertically). Thus there's a lot of scrolling required.

And as you browse around, it's often hard to tell what item is selected — where your cursor is, so to speak — because all it does is enlarge slightly; there's no added border or coloring or anything else to help you spot it more easily. Countless times I've struggled to determine which tile is actually highlighted; you glance away for one second and it gets "lost" when your gaze returns.

Apple's Search feature works well enough, dynamically displaying results as you enter them — though there's no support for voice search in the Google TV or Roku apps. (This capability is available only with an Apple TV streaming device .) The Library section is fairly straightforward as well: It's where you access movies or TV shows you've rented or purchased, including any that are part of your Movies Anywhere account (if you have one).

The Home screen features a familiar carousel that flips through new and noteworthy releases. It occupies nearly the entire screen, leaving only the upper half of a row of Continue Watching tiles visible — not the best design decision, but the good news is that carousel is now 100% Apple TV content. Previously, it mixed in third-party stuff that might require an additional subscription or not even be available to watch.

You'll still find some of that farther down the Home screen; a smattering of rows contain movies or TV shows that require a rental or purchase or live on a different service. But you can tell which ones at a glance, because their tiles lack the Apple TV logo.

You can filter out this kind of content by navigating to the "Apple TV" page, which lists only Apple content that's included with your subscription. There's a lot of overlap between the two pages, and I still find it odd to see a standalone menu option with the same name as the service you're using.

Meanwhile, the Watchlist — the row that's home to stuff you've bookmarked to see later — lives far, far down on both those pages, which is inconvenient at best. So is having to scroll horizontally until you find the move or show you want.

I could go on. It's still a pain to navigate to the show page for a particular series. (Pro tip: Press and hold the Select button on your remote for a pop-up menu that'll take you there.) It's still annoying that additional episodes are barely visible on a show page, and that you have to scroll down twice and then back up again once to get the season-selector.

Can you get used to all these design deficits? Sure. Do I expect better from Apple? Yes. (Here's a hack of sorts: If you subscribe to Apple TV via Amazon , you can get all the same content in a more streamlined interface — namely, Amazon Prime Video 's. It's not perfect, but it's an improvement.

Apple TV account sharing: Read the fine print

You can share your Apple TV account with up to five other family members — emphasis on family. Thankfully, they don't all need to be living under the same roof, unlike with certain other services (cough, Netflix, cough).

The most direct way to share a subscription is by bringing someone into your Apple Account Family Sharing group, a setting accessible via your iCloud account on your iPhone, iPad or other Apple device. Just be sure to read the fine print: You're not just sharing the video service, but also opening up your purchased video library, Apple apps, iCloud storage and much more. And if someone is already in another Apple Family Sharing group, they can't simultaneously be in yours. In other words, proceed with caution: This isn't like sharing a Netflix password.

And speaking of family, Apple allows only "global" content restrictions, meaning any ratings-related limits you set up for movies and TV shows will apply to all users, not just those of certain ages. If there's a way to impose restrictions just for kids, I couldn't find it — despite a lot of poring through Apple's online help pages.

Should you subscribe to Apple TV?

I suppose indicting Apple TV for its bad interface is kind of like indicting air travel because there was a screaming baby on your flight. Annoying, absolutely, but you lived through it and ultimately made it to Paris.

So although no other streaming service makes me pull my hair the way Apple TV does, I will likely remain a subscriber — at least sporadically, when there are new shows and/or seasons I want to watch.

Indeed, even if you just sign up for a month or two here or there, it's a pretty good bet you'll find plenty of bingeable content. When I think about some of my favorite shows of the last few years, an awful lot of them originated on Apple TV.

Update, March 9, 2026: We modified our review to reflect changes in pricing, interface, bundling options and other factors.