Why I'm keeping Apple TV+ after its price rise – because it's clearly the best

I still think that Apple TV+ is the best streaming service available right now. Indeed, it's largely under-appreciated in my opinion – and remains far better value than many of its competitors.

For the service to impose a price hike last week wasn't exactly a huge surprise. Sure, nobody likes increasing costs, but in Apple TV+'s case I still think the service is worth the cover price – and I certainly won't be cancelling.

For background: on 21 August 2025, Apple TV+ increased its per-month fee from £8.99 to £9.99; in the USA it jumped from $9.99 to $12.99. There's no 'hack' or workaround to avoid that increase, as the price shift was implemented with immediate effect.

A word on ads

Take a look at the broader map of streaming services, however, which quickly focuses a lens on how much poorer some offerings have become for us all, the customers. Amazon Prime Video, for example, added adverts in early 2024 – and has hugely increased their serving in recent months, which I particularly loathe.

Apple TV+ doesn't do adverts – and there seems to be no plan to introduce them. I'd much rather pay the extra quid and skip that whole hurdle. Amazon Prime wants an extra £/$2.99 per month to swerve its ads – something I refuse to pay (and which has actively decreased my use of its service, to the point I'm questioning if I want it at all anymore).

Netflix and Disney+ offer a banded approach to their platforms: you can pay less for lower-quality streaming with ads; or you can pay more for higher-quality streams without ads. The top-tier Netflix package, however, is £18.99 / $24.99 per month – around double that of Apple TV+, even after this new price change.

All of which quickly adds up. I recently wrote about how streaming services have a major problem that I'm not sure can be fixed – accumulative costs and too far-reaching numbers of services. Choice is great, sure, but corporates slicing up their cake – Amazon, Paramount+, MGM+ – quickly becomes another barrier. I can't afford them all – nobody sensibly can, surely? – so something has to be cut.

One issue still needs fixing

That highlights the quality of Apple TV+ to me: after watching Silo, Severance, Slow Horses, Stick, Murderbot, and many more, I've spent far more time invested in Apple's original programming in 2025 than on any other platform. It's my favourite streamer, bar none.

And with sensible investment – Apple's bold message with Silo is foresight that Netflix should learn from, as one example – I trust the service to do the right thing more than others. Netflix cancelled Kaos, for example, which I still think is unforgivable – and confusing.

There's still one niggle that gets to me, though: Apple TV+ doesn't deliver consistent quality from all sources, with the company's own physical products (i.e. an Apple TV 4K box) said to receive a better source. I've previously written about how Silo's dark scenes lack the expected quality, even when watching during my testing of the best OLED TVs.

Now that Apple has bumped its monthly price up, I feel that we viewers should expect more. It was only the other week that I wrote praise of Netflix for offering the best streaming quality by far – something that Apple, Amazon, et al, need to address in my opinion.

I'd pay even more for an 'Apple TV+ Premium' or equivalent service, because the quality of original programming – and movies, come to think of it; Wolfs, anyone? – is more consistent than elsewhere. That must be lauded.

But it seems that complacency has crept in with regards to streaming quality – and that's the one issue that Apple TV+ still needs to address. Save for that, however, Apple TV+ remains a streaming staple that the other big companies could learn a thing or two from.