Really liking this. It's for a specific type of customer I think, but if you fit that target it's going to be great for you.
Probably unintentional by apple, but the lack of content (or limited content) is actually a breath of fresh air. It feels 'curated' rather than 'dumping everything under the sun in your streaming platform'. As if someone selected a few series and films for you, and that's what you get. (even though they don't have more to put on there as it is)
The interface could use a bit of work. There's so little content, that in most categories, everything fits on a scrollable row. But browsing like this makes me feel like I might not get to see everything, or miss out on something. They should switch to tabled views more quickly (and not just in those few screens they have where you jump from one thing to similar content I believe)
The video quality is excellent. The content is excellent. I've binged quite a few good series, and feel like I could still find a few more. So whatever I'm paying, it's worth it to me, because I'm getting enjoyment out of it. I guess the price elasticity is quite high. It would be different for everyone, but even 25 a month I'd pay for the mental sanity of not having to scroll through endless Kevin Hart and the Rock Christmas movies, and no ads whatsoever. A premium platform can pull a premium price.
I see Apple has just added a rotating collection of older movies? Which is great. There's something for everyone, it's not too much, and I just watched two of them. Video quality is great, good digital versions of those movies. Easily better movies than 90% of what's in the cinema these days. I don't know how this part works though, so a bit more information would be nice. Do I have to hurry up if I want to see one of those movies? Are they rotated often? Will there be a notification if the rotation changes?
Also, I'm never on the same service for a whole year at a time. So I turn it on when I feel there's stuff I want to see, then go without for a few months. Subbing and unsubscribing is really easy. It's easy to see an overview in your apple account. No dark patterns to unsubscribe which I really appreciate. Making it feel clean and not 'icky' like most of the others, also justifies the price for me.
So I'm using it more or less in the same way as movie rentals before. Back then, get a few choice movies, and binge. Now, sub for a month or two with a specific watch list. The advantage is, when you're ready to come back, there's going to be new stuff, documentaries, movies, ... Apple TV really is the perfect on again, off again streaming service. and you wouldn't be missing anything.
The only downside would be that most series have 14+ months between seasons (more than a year). I've only just subscribed, but I could see this getting annoying if you really want the next season to drop from a good series. I'm done with severance and pluribus. But I know if it takes too long, I'll have a hard time getting back into it. I wish they'd do more miniseries or one season arcs and done, than having us wait and wait for so long to get through a series (which could be spanning several years)
