Apple TV drops the Plus

Subscribers will still have to pay the service's recently-hiked $12.99 per month fee to enjoy its "vibrant new identity."

By Emma Keates | October 13, 2025 | 2:49pm

Photo: Apple TV

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Apple TV+ is taking a cue from HBO Max… circa 2023. Just like the latter lopped off a part of its name to become simply “Max,” Apple TV+ is shortening its name to a relatively cleaner Apple TV. One point in Apple’s favor: The fact that the company chose to lose the “+” instead of the “Apple” probably means it won’t feel the need to reverse the decision in another two years like its competitor. The streamer made the change with relatively little fanfare. “Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity,” it snuck into a press release announcing the streaming premiere of Joseph Kosinski’s F1. (The Brad Pitt-led blockbuster will zoom onto the platform December 12.)

The erasure of Apple TV’s “plus” is a neat little metaphor for the contraction of streaming in general. Last year, the streamer announced that it would start cutting back on its previous practice of throwing huge amounts of money at interesting projects other streamers might not have greenlit in the first place (many of which were very, very good). Then this past August, it raised its monthly fee 30% from $9.99 to $12.99. That’s a whopping 160% increase from its original price point of $4.99 per month when it first launched back in 2019. Of course, the fact that Apple is allegedly losing more than $1 billion per year on the streaming service (as reported by The Information back in March) likely has something to do with all of these increases. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that subscribers are paying more for the same exact service.