This story is part of our complete Apple WWDC coverage
As is often the case with Apple’s major press releases, some of the more interesting (if obscure) details often are tucked away toward the end, or even in the footnotes. Case in point: Support for third-party VPNs is coming to Apple TV when tvOS 17 is released this fall.
For most normal folks, that’s probably not a huge deal. You plug in your Apple TV at home or wherever, and it just works. But for some folks, it’s going to open up a world of fun.
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A VPN is a virtual private network that essentially allows you to connect to a remote network as if it were your network at home. That’s helpful for things like security, and basically makes it appear as if a remote server was right there next to you, on the same network connection.
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It’s also a boon for those who want to make it look as if they’re somewhere they’re not. A VPN allows you to connect through specific servers in a specific location, which in turn allows you to watch content that’s meant for one region, but not another. You’ve maybe experienced this with a service like Netflix or Paramount+. But it’s also the sort of thing that very much comes into play with live sports, which might be available on one service in one country, but not in another. We’ll let you argue about the ethics of circumventing geo restrictions, but that game of cat-and-mouse is hardly new.
In any event, the official line from the Apple press release is that “this can benefit enterprise and education users wanting to access content on their private networks, allowing Apple TV to be a great office and conference room solution in even more places.” Which is also true.
In any event, get ready for an influx of some of the best VPNs available, coming soon to an Apple TV App Store near you.
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Apple TV+ isn't the newcomer to streaming it once was when it launched in 2019. In fact, Apple TV+ has made quite the name for itself, raking in Emmys and Oscars for its top-notch original movies and TV shows. Its subscription numbers have risen steadily over the years, and it's established itself as a desirable streaming service in and among the Netflixes and Amazon Prime Videos of the world.
But one of the best things about Apple TV+s remains its relatively low price compared to more expensive options like Netflix and Hulu. Just how much is Apple TV+, and how can you save even more on your subscription cost? Read on to find out.
How much is Apple TV+?
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Since its launch in November of 2019, Apple TV+ has elbowed its way on to the playing field of streaming services from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to Disney+, Max, Hulu, and a plethora of others to become, for many, a go-to option for movies, TV series, and sports. Since then the ad-free service has amassed an estimated 25 million subscribers globally, with many more than that reportedly cashing in on the company's penchant for free promotional subscriptions after you buy a new Apple device like an iPhone or MacBook.
What sets Apple TV+ apart from the rest of the herd is that it's the only service that offers exclusively original content andonly its own original content; meaning no seasons of Rick and Morty or Friends licensed from their respective networks and no blockbuster flicks from other studios, but you can get those elsewhere. This may or may not be a bad thing, as so far Apple has done a pretty good job at making some of the most compelling original content out there, including award-winning series such as Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, and Severance to some of the best sci-fi series around, likeSilo and Invasion, as well as live sports from Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer.
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This is sort of one of those things that you see pop up from time to time whenever Apple unleashes an onslaught of new beta software. And it's worth discussing. Should you, proud owner of an Apple TV (or the newer Apple TV 4K, which is still our pick for the best streaming hardware you can buy), simply sit back and let production-level tvOS updates hit your box as Steve Jobs intended? Or should you live on the edge and take your chances with beta updates?
It's a fair question. I'm a sucker for updates. But there's a little bit to think about here.
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For us mere mortals (as in someone who doesn't work at Apple), there are three software tracks from which you can choose on Apple TV. There's the regular software that everybody gets, which we'll call "Production." Because that's what it is. There are two types of betas. There's "Developer," and there's "Public."
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