Why Apple TV Plus beat Netflix and Prime Video for our Streaming Service of the Year award
It’s been an interesting year to choose which platform should be crowned the Streaming Service of the year at the TechRadar Choice Awards 2024 – what with the countless price hikes, intensifying ads onslaught, account restrictions and cancellations that we’ve seen in the past few months alone. But there’s one service that has been outlier in this trend, while also delivering quality shows consistently: Apple TV Plus.
As one of the smallest paid-for best streaming services available, it might seem easy to overlook it, but Apple TV Plus has quietly maintained a consistent and affordable price point in 2024 – and only one tier – all while not succumbing to cost pressures by introducing ads or stopping subscribers from sharing their accounts.
Of course, there have been some cancellations this year, including Schmigadoon!, Constellation, Still Up, The Big Door Prize and Time Bandits, but the list is dwarfed by the number of renewals that we’ve seen. Hijack, Bad Sisters, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Slow Horses, Acapulco, Invasion, Dark Matter, Shrinking, Presumed Innocent, Sugar, Loot – just to give you an idea – have all become returning Apple TV Plus hits.
While every service has had to contend with tightening budget strings, Apple TV Plus has stood fast to its approach of quality original content, acquiring A-lister talent for its new releases – one of its biggest snags was getting Brad Pitt and George Clooney together again for the new movie Wolfs.
It does have one of the smallest catalogs around, but it more than makes up for this with its increasing variety of quality hits – just peruse our picks of the best Apple TV Plus movies and best Apple TV Plus shows to get a taste of the highest rated titles on offer at the service and you’ll see it’s no longer just a sci-fi utopia.
While there are plenty of new prestige dramas being added, I’m personally a big fan of its sci-fi offerings and can’t wait to stream Silo season 2 when it returns on November 15, 2024 – I’m even more excited to find out what it has in store for us with Severance season 2 next year.
Outside of its originals, Apple TV Plus has also increasingly been beefing up its content slate to offer more choice. In March, subscribers in the US were treated to 50 new movies on the platform as part of a new licensing push and while these were only available for a limited time, 30 more classic movies were added in April. Sports fans were also treated in September to a free season pass to Major League Soccer.
Apple TV Plus’ commitment to quality doesn’t just apply to content though, it has one of the best app experiences around, allowing you to stream in 4K with Spatial Audio in over 100 countries. It also offers subtitles and dubbing in close to 40 languages, and is increasingly available on more services, such as most recently Prime Video as a subscription add-on.
Apple’s streaming service – despite the company itself being colossal – is one of those services that can often be overlooked because it doesn’t have the sheer scale of the likes of Netflix or Prime Video. But everyone loves an underdog story, and oddly this one comes from the biggest company in the world.