Apple has officially declared war on Netflix and Amazon Video.
As expected, the iPhone maker announced a new video streaming service called Apple TV+ on Monday during a special event held at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. Apple TV+ looks to compete directly with popular video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Apple TV+ includes original programming from well-known entertainment talent such as Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show), Kumail Nanjiani (Little America), Steve Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, and Oprah Winfrey.
Apple says new content will be added every month when the service launches in over 100 countries this fall.
Noticeably missing from Apple's special event was any word on pricing. That information is coming "later this fall," according to a company press release.
In addition to Apple TV+, Apple also announced a redesigned TV app with a new Apple Channels section for iOS. The new TV app, available this May, will also launch for Mac, select smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Sony, and Vizo) and — surprise, surprise — Roku, and Amazon Fire TV devices.
The new Apple Channels section within the Apple TV app will let customers pick and choose only the third-party content they want to subscribe to. Partners include Starz, HBO, and ShowTime, to name a few. Netflix, unfortunately, is not one of the partners.
"For some of us, the big [cable] bundle is more than we need so we designed a new TV experience where you can pay for only the channels you want, all in one app, with the password you already have..." said Peter Stern, Apple's vice president of services. "This is how TV should work."
All Apple Channels are on-demand, ad-free, and the content is downloadable for offline viewing. Users can also share with family members via Apple's Family Sharing feature on its devices.
To accommodate the new Apple Channels, Apple redesigned the TV app with a new interface that puts content front and center as well as make it easier to find.
Everything you're watching is in a new "Up Next" section that lets you pick up right where you left off, said Stern. There's also a new "For You" section that uses machine learning to recommend personalized content based on your subscriptions.
Third-party content opens up right inside of the TV app — no more exiting it to hop into another one.
Apple also showed off a revamped section for kid-friendly content. The company trotted out Big Bird to talk up a new children's show that teaches kids about coding:
"Whether you get your TV from a streaming service like Prime Video, Hulu, or ESPN+; movies from iTunes; sports, news and network TV from cable or satellite; or shows from HBO, ShowTime, and Starz from the new Apple TV Channels, it's all together in one place: the Apple TV app," said Stern.
The subscription-based video service is yet another piece in Apple's new strategy to push into the lucrative world of services as iPhones sales slow down. In addition to Apple TV+, Apple also announced a new subscription-based Apple News+ service that'll cost $9.99 and a subscription-based gaming service called Apple Arcade. Apple also announced a new Apple Card credit card, both as a digital card that lives in the iPhone's wallet app and works via Apple Pay and as a physical card made out of titanium that can be used at mobile terminals that don't support Apple Pay.
