Having trouble determining which streaming services to sign up to? (Here's a guide to the best streaming services if so.) We get it – they each have their own unique flavour, and they all cost money.
The trouble with streamers, aside from cost, is the content landfill – a million shows to watch, but you're only interested in three of them. Apple TV+ isn't like that, as its production house is far more bespoke.
It doesn't have a massive back catalogue of mediocre bought-in shows and unwatchable movies, but instead it focuses on prestige and speciality interest. Not everything is a success, and there are definitely some major misfires, but every show appears to be made by people who care, and the production budgets are appropriate to the wealthiest company on Earth.
While there's less on the platform than you might find on Prime Video or Netflix, every show counts, and they all punch above their weight – from Ted Lasso and Slow Horses to Ben Stiller's Severance.
Talking of which, the trippy sci-fi mystery is back for a second season. The office-drone 'Innies', including Adam Scott and John Turturro, are still trying to escape from the workplace they've been imprisoned in by their 'Outie' selves, who get to experience only leisure time on the outside.
Digital Spy's other recommendations include Slow Horses, which sees Gary Oldman looking seedier than ever as the head of a building full of MI5 rejects who've been put out to pasture. Oldman has said he wants to keep doing it till he retires, and you don't get a stronger endorsement than that.
We also love The Afterparty (two seasons), a comedy-mystery in which Sam Richardson, Tiffany Haddish and Zoë Chao are caught up in successive murder cases and each episode is styled as a different genre, from high-school musical to Wes Anderson quirk.
Want to know more about Apple TV+'s content? Fill your boots. But what about all the ways to get it free? There are quite a few, and not all of them require a purchase of something else.
The usual fee for subscribing to AppleTV+ is £8.99/$9.99 per month (up from £6.99/$6.99), which is comparable to the other streamers on the market, though not as competitive as it used to be. There's also no discount for signing up for a full year.
But if you want to try before you buy – or are only really interested in one or two shows that you reckon you can binge fairly swiftly (no judgment here) – there are several ways to do it.
Apple TV+ seven-day free trial
First, there's the seven-day free trial. You get to watch all you want for seven days with nothing to pay, though if you don't cancel, you'll be on the hook for £8.99/$8.99 a month thereafter.
An even better option might be to try out Apple One, its bundle that includes Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Music and iCloud+. You can get one month's service free before paying £18.95/$19.95. (For an individual, it's £24.95/$25.95 for a family subscription or £36.95/$37.95 per month for the Premier bundle, which also includes Apple Fitness+ and Apple News+.)
Already used up your free trials? There are still other ways to get Apple TV+ without paying.
Apple TV+ three-month free trial
Another way to do it is to buy some Apple hardware. If you purchase a new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac, you'll get Apple TV+ free for three months.
Admittedly, you're spending a fair wedge to get the tools, but if you're buying, say, an iPhone 15 anyway, consider the TV package a bonus at no extra cost.
If you purchase an Apple TV, you'll get the three months free, too.
That's not the only way in through Apple itself. If you're a student, you can get a discounted Apple Music account, and Apple will throw a TV account in "for a limited time" (the site doesn't specify how long, but it's basically while you're still officially a student).
Three months of Apple free with Playstation
If you've got a PS4 or Ps5 and Playstation Network account, you can redeem the offer today – three months' extended free trial.
Three months of Apple TV+ free with EE
UK EE customers can get six months free with their plan, and O2 customers can get up to three months free using the Priority service.
Three months of Apple TV+ free with Three
Are you with Three? You could have three months free!
Six months of Apple TV+ free with T-Mobile
If you're based in the US, you can get Apple TV+ free for six months or more with a T-Mobile plan. (The Go5G plan gives you six months, while Go5G Plus gets you it for as long as you have your plan.)
Three months of Apple TV+ free with Currys
There's more! If you sign up for the Currys Perks customer loyalty scheme, you can get Apple TV+ free for three months.
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Editor, Digital Spy Chris has over 25 years' experience as a writer and editor, having worked as a journalist covering TV and movies since the '90s. Starting out as a TV listings editor at the Press Association, he was quickly hired by the nascent Heat magazine, where he rose to become Senior Editor, interviewing the likes of Simon Cowell, Boris Johnson and Paris Hilton. Over the years he has written about entertainment with clarity and wit for Heat, Elle, Q, The Telegraph and of course Digital Spy, and has served many times as a judge in the Royal Television Society awards. He has written and recorded a novelty single with Lord Lloyd-Webber, written scripts for the National TV Awards, made Noel Edmonds cry, accidentally punched an Inbetweener and stolen a small piece of rubble from the Battle of Hogwarts movie set. (They can't have it back.) LinkedIn
