Gadget

Apple launches affordable subscriptions

Apple may be a premium brand, but it is offering a streaming service that’s cheaper than major streaming providers, as well as providing a cross-platform gaming service, both for $5 per month.

Apple TV+ is the first all-original video subscription service on the market, meaning it will only showcase content that it has made itself. It will launch on November 1 in over 100 countries and regions. 

It offers a promising lineup of original shows, movies and documentaries, including “The Morning Show,” “Dickinson,” “See,” “For All Mankind”, and “The Elephant Queen.” The service will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including online at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. 

Starting today, customers who purchase any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch or Mac receive one year of Apple TV+ for free. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share one Apple TV+ subscription.

“With Apple TV+, we are presenting all-original stories from the best, brightest and most creative minds, and we know viewers will find their new favorite show or movie on our service,” says Zack Van Amburg, Apple’s head of Worldwide Video. “Each Apple TV+ original offers its own unique story, fresh perspective and powerful message — all meant to entertain, connect and inspire cultural conversations.”

“Apple TV+ is an unprecedented global video service with an all-original slate,” says Jamie Erlicht, Apple’s head of Worldwide Video. “We look forward to giving audiences everywhere the opportunity to enjoy these compelling stories within a rich, personalized experience on all the screens they love.”

Subscribers can watch Apple TV+ originals both online and offline, ad-free and on demand, on the Apple TV app, which comes pre-installed on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and iPod touch and will soon be on Mac with macOS Catalina. The Apple TV app is also available on select Samsung smart TVs, and will come to Amazon Fire TV, LG, Roku, Sony and VIZIO platforms in the future. Customers can also sign up and watch Apple TV+ originals on the web at tv.apple.com.

Starting today, viewers can watch trailers and add Apple TV+ series and movies to Up Next on the Apple TV app, so they can be notified when the first episodes become available. At launch, most Apple TV+ series will premiere with three episodes, with one new episode to roll out each week, while full seasons of some series will be available all at once.

Audiences worldwide can watch Apple TV+ originals subtitled and/or dubbed in nearly 40 languages, including Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (SDH) or closed captions. Apple TV+ series and movies will also be available with audio descriptions in eight languages.

Click here to read about the latest cross-gaming platform, Apple Arcade.

Apple has announced that Apple Arcade will be available on the App Store on Thursday, September 19 with iOS 13, offering a new way to enjoy games without limits. 

With a subscription to Apple Arcade for $4.99 per month, users get unlimited access to the catalogue of over 100 new, exclusive games, all playable across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV. Apple Arcade is launching with a one-month free trial, and users will not find the games on any other mobile platform or subscription service. Apple Arcade games can all be played offline, and a single subscription includes access for up to six family members with Family Sharing. The catalogue will exceed 100 games in the coming weeks as new titles are introduced, with more games to come every month. Apple Arcade will be available on September 30 on iPadOS and tvOS 13, and in October on macOS Catalina.

“We are so excited to launch Apple Arcade on the App Store. A curated selection of over 100 new and exclusive games from many of the most innovative game developers in the world is the perfect complement to the App Store’s existing massive catalog of games,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We think customers of all ages are going to be delighted that a single subscription gives the whole family unlimited access to the full catalog of amazing Apple Arcade games, all without any ads or additional purchases, while knowing every game must meet Apple’s high privacy standards.”

Made by some of the most creative developers in the world, each game on Apple Arcade is designed to capture players’ imaginations through intuitive and fun gameplay, compelling narrative and original art and music. Apple Arcade subscribers get the full version of every game including all updates and expansions, without any ads or additional in-game purchases. Instead of paying up front for each game, subscribers can download and play any Apple Arcade game right from the App Store’s brand-new Arcade tab. All the games are playable offline, so they can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. 

Apple Arcade is the world’s first game subscription service that enables such a wide breadth of new titles to be played across mobile, desktop and TV. To give users maximum flexibility when playing, some games will support controllers, including Xbox Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth, PlayStation DualShock 4 and MFi game controllers, in addition to touch controls and Siri Remote.

iStore South Africa is offering a deal where customers can trade-in their old iPhones towards a new one. The trade-in can also be towards a gift card, which can be used at a later date. Read more here.

It will also offer iCare Plus for iPhones purchased at the iStore, which offers one year extended warranty and one screen repair to the value of R1999. Read more here.

Vodacom customers will be able to reduce their monthly payments by up to R330 per month by trading in their old iPhone for a new one when upgrading at an iStore.

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