Apple announces subscription-based streaming service, Apple TV Plus, credit card and more

The streaming sphere gets more interesting as Apple sets to launch its very own streaming platform, Apple TV Plus, complete with original content from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, Oprah, Big Bird and more. 

The fruit made the announcement on Monday at the Apple event 2019 as celebrities talked about new movies and TV shows launching soon on the platform. The Apple TV Plus is a subscription service with only Apple originals. Unlike Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, it will feature only originals from Apple and there is no catalogue of licensed films or tv shows to choose from. Subscription price, not yet disclosed.

Mind you, Apple TV Plus is not a separate, standalone app but is rather inbuilt in the Apple TV app, which is expanding to many more devices over the coming months such as the Mac as well as smart TVs, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

Apple also announced other bunch of services as summarised below:

The Apple Arcade

Hello, gamers. Welcome to Apple Arcade, an extension of the App Store. Basically, premium paid games from the App Store gets a new home in the Apple Arcade. But the Arcade isn’t game streaming – it’s an all-you-can-eat subscription service launching with over 100 games. Price to be determined.

Apple News Plus

If you’re a news junkie, there is something for you as well. The Apple News Plus is a subscription offering for magazines, which is launching with over 300 publications as well as digital subscriptions to newspapers like The Wall Street Journal. It’s $9.99 per month, the first month free, with Family Sharing. Coming to the UK, Australia and Europe later this year. No mention of Africa.

Apple Credit Card

And if you’re short of cash, you can always fall back on the fruit’s credit card offering, predictably called, Apple Card, in partnership with Goldman Sachs and MasterCard.  Apple is offering immediate online signup, app-based support, more understandable statements, spending tracking by category and more.