Apple TV+

DubDJ

Strange, the eligibility was supposed to only run between Nov 1 and Jan 31st.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/01/30/apple-tv-plus-free-for-a-year-last-chance/

Basically, for anybody who purchased a new device after September 10th and activated the offer between the above dates. I read the same in the T&C’s on their website.

Maybe they’re not strictly enforcing the deadlines to increase user memberships.

PopTarts

Thanks for replies!

I seem to be out of the timeframe if it did end Jan 31st.

Does Apple know by device or by apple account?

I would have the device since Sept but the Apple account a long time!

I just got a new MacBook and I was trying to sign up for the free trial for the year.

I’d assumed this was an ongoing thing that anytime you bought a device you get a free year but I can’t see the option to sign up for free and I’m not seeing stuff here about 30th of Jan being the last day?

iniall

Adelynn Creamy Opium wrote: »

I just got a new MacBook and I was trying to sign up for the free trial for the year.

I’d assumed this was an ongoing thing that anytime you bought a device you get a free year but I can’t see the option to sign up for free and I’m not seeing stuff here about 30th of Jan being the last day?

Still says every new Mac comes with one year of Apple TV+ on apple.com...

DubDJ

I’ve a feeling Apple might have done a switch and extended it for the immediate future. Worth while shooting an email to support and finding out their official stance.

iniall

iniall wrote: »

Still says every new Mac comes with one year of Apple TV+ on apple.com...

DubDJ wrote: »

I’ve a feeling Apple might have done a switch and extended it for the immediate future. Worth while shooting an email to support and finding out their official stance.

Sorted it there, something must have gone a miss at first but when I closed and resigned in I was offered the 1 year trial.

whiterebel

I bought a new iMac this week and I have it.

Bob24

DubDJ wrote: »

I’ve a feeling Apple might have done a switch and extended it for the immediate future. Worth while shooting an email to support and finding out their official stance.

My understanding is that there is no doubt about the continued validity of the offer. It is still clearly listed on Apple’s website: https://offers.appletvapp.apple/en-ie

The deadline of the 31rst of January was for people who bought new devices in September/October to activate the offer (which I think some people might have misunderstood and assumed it meant Apple completely stopping to offer 1 year trials for new purchases after that date).

Basically as far as I understand there is a delay of 3 months after the device purchase to activate the offer; except for devices purchased in September/October for which there was a hard deadline of 31rst of January instead.

Simon201

Apple TV appeared on my LG TV apps last week (UM7450) so nice and handy to run it there instead of airplay through the phone.

I'm on 'For All Mankind' now having watched The Morning Show and See. Enjoying them pretty much so far. Yes they definitely need more content but up to now it seems that they have gone for quality rather content. I didn't pay as a family sharing member bought an iPad recently. Probably wouldn't have paid, but I might be interested if they had a combined Apple Music/iCloud storage/Apple TV bundle at some point...

ablelocks

i got a notification on my ipad mini 2 on thursday night telling me that my time to avail of free apple tv was nearly up. I signed up there and then and have free appletv until 5th Mar 2021. I only bought an apple watch series 5 last october, and they told me that i wasn't eligible for the offer back then. I suspect they've dropped some of their t's and c's in order to get the subscription numbers up....

DubDJ

Apple released their newest film The Banker today. Sat down earlier to watch it, the quality was terrible. Tried multiple ways to fix it but it was consistently terrible even on different devices.

Just read now that Apple has dropped quality in line with the rest of the streaming services. The quality is shockingly bad though, like watching a blocky pixelated badly encoded video.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/20/apple-tv-plus-streaming-quality-coronavirus/

Pretty bad for Apple to give this the go ahead, supposedly Netflix has no noticeable difference but Apple isn’t watchable for me. Really hope they revert, not exactly like they have massive viewer numbers that would have an impactful effect on the EU broadband infrastructure.

Zhane

DubDJ wrote: »

Apple released their newest film The Banker today. Sat down earlier to watch it, the quality was terrible. Tried multiple ways to fix it but it was consistently terrible even on different devices.

Just read now that Apple has dropped quality in line with the rest of the streaming services. The quality is shockingly bad though, like watching a blocky pixelated badly encoded video.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/20/apple-tv-plus-streaming-quality-coronavirus/

Pretty bad for Apple to give this the go ahead, supposedly Netflix has no noticeable difference but Apple isn’t watchable for me. Really hope they revert, not exactly like they have massive viewer numbers that would have an impactful effect on the EU broadband infrastructure.

Don’t agree with this. I had look at it and it’s actually grand. It’s not 4K but definitely HD It’s much much better than some of the TV broadcasts.

DubDJ

Zhane wrote: »

Don’t agree with this. I had look at it and it’s actually grand. It’s not 4K but definitely HD It’s much much better than some of the TV broadcasts.

Not for me anyway, tried it on an iPhone and MacBook and even on the smaller iPhone screen I could notice how terrible it looks. Noticed it right away with how the text showed up, at first I thought it was a glitch and restarted the app and laptop because it looked so bad.

Edit: Just tried it now on my iPhone and the quality has actually improved massively. So they must have realised how bad it was. At its currently quality it’s easily watchable for me, I tried it again earlier this evening and the quality was still terrible so this just be a recent fix.

KildareP

Streaming at ~2Mbps on an Apple TV 4K since yesterday morning.

Would have been 20Mbps+ less than 48 hours ago.

Seems Apple has gone full on with watch in SD.

KildareP

Seems to have reverted back to near normal again, an hour of The Morning Show has used up over 10GB of data.

Eire Go Brach

Disney+ is on loads more devices. I have it on my 2017 LG TV.
Be nice if Apple could put it on more devices. As it no real use for me at the moment. Only have it on my iPhone.

DubDJ

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

Disney+ is on loads more devices. I have it on my 2017 LG TV.
Be nice if Apple could put it on more devices. As it no real use for me at the moment. Only have it on my iPhone.

I was just above the cut-off too with my 2016 LG TV. Apple TV is the only app I'm really missing at the moment, but I've zero expectations of Apple supporting it. Pity as I'm finding a lot of the content on TV+ to be enjoyable, just having to hook the laptop to the TV to be a pain.

Bob24

Some of the Apple TV+ content available for free without a subscription: https://www.engadget.com/apple-tv-plus-free-053445049.html

davehey79

Bob24 wrote: »

Some of the Apple TV+ content available for free without a subscription: https://www.engadget.com/apple-tv-plus-free-053445049.html

have you been able to access the "free" content?
i see no option in the app for any new free content

Bob24

davehey79 wrote: »

have you been able to access the "free" content?
i see no option in the app for any new free content

I am still on a one year free subscription with a hardware purchase, so I can’t try unfortunately.

DubDJ

I think it's restricted to certain countries, seen a few replies earlier complaining it wasn't available internationally but never read the full story.

PaulT21

DubDJ wrote: »

I think it's restricted to certain countries, seen a few replies earlier complaining it wasn't available internationally but never read the full story.

Apparently the free content comes online tomorrow in the UK. Maybe we will benefit then also;)

PaulT21

Free on Apple TV + now available. Limited selection though

PaulT21

Was considering purchasing the Apple TV 4K, and hopefully get the free year of Apple TV +, but would hate to buy one now and then  launch a new version. Has anyone any insight to a possible new model? I did read that it might have been mentioned in code recently, maybe in IOS 14 code? Thanks

iniall

PaulT21 wrote: »

Was considering purchasing the Apple TV 4K, and hopefully get the free year of Apple TV +, but would hate to buy one now and then  launch a new version. Has anyone any insight to a possible new model? I did read that it might have been mentioned in code recently, maybe in IOS 14 code? Thanks

I'm in the same boat - I read last month that there was a new Apple TV on the way, so I'm holding off buying. I think it would probably have arrived by now if Apple had been able to have their rumoured March event, but who knows when it will be released at this stage?

Creamy Goodness

The new Apple TV could come at any time really. Apple released an iPad Pro without an event which is a more favoured product to them than the TV box. It's really hard to see what a new Apple TV box could be. They're horribly overpriced (speaking as a person who has one), they don't do anything more than other tv hardware (TVs now have iTunes/Apple TV+) the only thing that's really different is apps and games. Apps on the Apple TV are pretty dire and the games aren't compelling enough to take even a small minority away from PS4/Xbox/Switch.

One thing for sure though it'll be super interesting to see what they do next with it.

OU812

I got the 4K at Xmas to replace an IV version. Found it a fantastic upgrade. If they improve it greatly I’ll probably upgrade again & cycle that one out to another room.

I think though they’re probably just going to beef it up for arcade & ive no interest in that unless they bundle it with something else.

mel123

Sorry if this has been asked before, but does apple tv stream to a chromecast?
I have an LG tv with no mirroring available (oldish tv). I bought an app in the app store which works perfect for everything except apple tv (comes up with a message copyright tv cant be streamed). Id rather not have to shell out for an apple tv if i can use the chromecast instead.

Thanks in advance

Creamy Goodness

mel123 wrote: »

Sorry if this has been asked before, but does apple tv stream to a chromecast?
I have an LG tv with no mirroring available (oldish tv). I bought an app in the app store which works perfect for everything except apple tv (comes up with a message copyright tv cant be streamed). Id rather not have to shell out for an apple tv if i can use the chromecast instead.

Thanks in advance

unfortunately no, that would require Apple to add chrome cast support. maybe try the chrome browser, go to tv.apple.com and try cast from there.

if not, you're cheapest option is buying an Amazon FireTV stick from Amazon.co.uk

OU812

I'm after discovering the Smithsonian app embedded in Apple TV & now I've a HUGE time problem.

There's literally too much content available to me.

Netflix, Apple TV, Disney +. I don't watch terrestrial anymore, Smithsonian is just €2.99 a month after a 30 day trial with some incredible content.

POBox19

mel123 wrote: »

, but does apple tv stream to a chromecast?
I have an LG tv with no mirroring available (oldish tv). I bought an app in the app store which works perfect for everything except apple tv

No. Supported devices are Roku, Amazon Firestick or Apple TV. I’ve tried some Cast TV apps to cast from the iPad and got nowhere.
Looks like there will be a new Apple TV soon, long overdue an upgrade since 2017.

emergingstar

Having major trouble Casting from my Iphone to the Apple box, either wont connect or keeps dropping, any suggestions to fix this

hkjohn

I got a new Sony Bravia and Sky Q box but the only way I can access Apple TV+ is via a cable hook up.

Anyone know if you can access via the Now ROKU player or if there is an Ireland compatible Amazon Fire Stick you can purchase that simplifies this?

DelBoy Trotter

I presume your new tv is a smart tv? There might be an Apple TV+ app you can install. Or if you have the app on your phone, you might be able to play it via Airplay depending on the tv

hkjohn

Tried the App route - Sony apparently don't offer it on Bravia which is a bit weird. Can do it via AirPlay but it's a bit of a chore.

Ten years ago would have been amazed by how this was even possible. Amazing how fast we become blasé about the most minor inconveniences.

Sorbet

Mr.S wrote: »

You can see all the app compatibility here: https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-app/devices/

Fairly annoying that they don't have it for most Sony TV's.

Firestick would probably be the best cheapest solution if you don't want to use Airplay.

New to this as have just gotten 12 months of Apple tv - tv's are too old to get the Apple tv app. Will a firestick or roku have it if I buy one? Conscious that there's all sorts of warnings on amazon when buying in Ireland. Thanks.

Doodah7

Yes definitely for Firestick.

hkjohn

Finally got it up and running - don't ask me how.

Couple of good things on there - Morning Show is excellent, but given there ain't that much choice compared to say, Netflix which costs around the same, I wouldn't pay for it if I hadn't got a year free with my new computer

Creamy Goodness

hkjohn wrote: »

Finally got it up and running - don't ask me how.

Couple of good things on there - Morning Show is excellent, but given there ain't that much choice compared to say, Netflix which costs around the same, I wouldn't pay for it if I hadn't got a year free with my new computer

Netflix has had at least a 10 year head start, and Apple basically started 3 months before a pandemic and has seriously affected tv production schedules. For example The Morning Show Season 2 was meant to come out October 2020, it's now more like April/May 2021.

Apple's back catalogue is a bit dire I'll give you that but I feel like Netflix's will dwindle in coming years due to the major players creating their own streaming services (NBC, Disney, HBO etc.) and will start pulling back catalogue content off Netflix/Amazon etc.

iniall

hkjohn wrote: »

Finally got it up and running - don't ask me how.

Couple of good things on there - Morning Show is excellent, but given there ain't that much choice compared to say, Netflix which costs around the same, I wouldn't pay for it if I hadn't got a year free with my new computer

Apple TV+ is €4.99 per month and Netflix's standard plan is €12.99 per month. Not really costing "around the same", in fairness.

Ted Lasso is great. Defending Jacob is good. Dickinson is good. Mythical Quest also really good. I've heard Tehran is excellent, but IO haven't seen it yet. I've just started For All Mankind and it's off to a good start. Really looking forward to Foundation (currently filming - level 5 permitting - in Limerick).

But yeah, obviously Netflix has a far bigger catalogue and that's likely to remain the case for quite some time.

DubDJ

I’ve watched most of the major stuff on it so far and can’t complain, especially for free. Really enjoyed a lot of the shows, the few movies they’ve added were good too. I’ve not really watched the documentary’s, but Boys State and Beastie Boys were brilliant.

It will definitely take time before it’s a worthwhile buy when actually paying for it. But with the Apple One subscription I’d imagine I’ll stick with it once the free time is up.

hkjohn

Good poíint re Netflix (NF) and Amazon Prime (AP) having a head start. Unfortunately for ATV, Disney also has a huge library to call on and it is hard to see the ATV platform ever catching up.

if (hopefully when!) I'm still here when life gets back to something approaching normal, will probably do with ATV what I used to do with NF and now do with AP; which is to take the odd out one month sub each time the new shows build up and then gorge on them for the next 30 days.

I think the real problem for platforms (and this will also affect NF) is that there is just too much top notch TV to watch now

POBox19

Sorbet wrote: »

New to this as have just gotten 12 months of Apple tv - tv's are too old to get the Apple tv app. Will a firestick or roku have it if I buy one? Conscious that there's all sorts of warnings on amazon when buying in Ireland. Thanks.

I got a ROKU device, it has the Apple TV+ app with a 12 month subscription thrown in. I don't think that I'll pay when the free sub expires.

adox

My years trial was up in December. They extended it for another 3 months and now another 3 months again!

DelBoy Trotter

adox wrote: »

My years trial was up in December. They extended it for another 3 months and now another 3 months again!

Mine was due to be up this month but it's been extended to July!

hkjohn

Once you've gone through the four or five halfway decent shows, there's nowhere near enough stuff up there to justify the monthly fee.

chrislad

I have the Apple Music plan for 20 that include TV and the Arcade too. It's a decent deal.

Gregor Samsa

I don't think Apple expect most people to pay for Apple TV+ on it's own. Since Apple TV + only shows original and exclusive content, it's never going to be able to compete on it's own with Netflix, Amazon PV, Disney +, etc.

I'd say the expectation is that people will get the Apple One bundles that include Music, Arcade, TV + and iCloud (and News + and Fitness + in some countries).

One sub for all these services makes it more palatable.

redlead

Have finally gotten around to watching a couple of things on this. Does anyone else have constant buffering issues with it? My Internet connection is fast and have no issues with Netflix, Prime, YouTube etc. Its happening most times I watch and is really starting to annoy me.

hkjohn

redlead wrote: »

Have finally gotten around to watching a couple of things on this. Does anyone else have constant buffering issues with it? My Internet connection is fast and have no issues with Netflix, Prime, YouTube etc. Its happening most times I watch and is really starting to annoy me.

I've found that it tends to buffer once or twice every couple of shows, but only very briefly and not to the point where I have to switch off