Netflix increasing the price of its streaming offering is a story as old as time at this point, and it's one that seems likely to have more sequels than the Fast and the Furious movies. But its latest move has angered people across two whole countries, and in the process, it's also managed to shine a spotlight on one of its biggest rivals. The result? People are ready to cancel Netflix in their droves, and there's one obvious destination — Apple TV Plus.
Netflix has started to warn subscribers to its Basic tier in the United Kingdom and Canada that their viewing is coming to something of an impasse. The Basic tier, which offers ad-free viewing with an admittedly paltry 720p resolution, is going away on June 4. Subscribers will automatically be moved to the Standard with Ads plan, saving a little money in the process. But as the name suggests, that tier comes with ads, and people really don't want to watch them.
There's an option for those people, though. They can choose to upgrade to the ad-free tier and pay more. But what Netflix is missing is that there's a third, perhaps better option. It includes canceling Netflix and spending the money elsewhere and, dare I say it, Apple TV Plus is a great option to alight upon.
Ad-free viewing and more
First, the background. Netflix wants more money and as TechRadar reports, the Basic plan is going away. In the UK, that Basic plan costs £7.99 per month and the Standard with Ads plan that subscribers will be moved to is actually cheaper, just £4.99 per month. Those subscribers will also benefit from additional features including a 1080p streaming quality and the ability to watch on more devices at the same time. But, there are ads. And we already know how people feel about ads.
They do not like them one bit, that's how they feel about ads.
Getting rid of ads means choosing a tier that costs £10.99 per month, and that's enough to have plenty of people ready to throw in the towel and go elsewhere, as is their prerogative. So where do they put their £7.99 per month?
The Apple TV Plus streaming service currently costs £8.99 per month in the UK, which is more than £7.99 but not so much that most people are likely to notice. There are no ads, either, so that's one big checkbox taken care of. Content is available in 4K UHD with HDR support and all those fancy audio features people get so excited about are also present and correct. And we didn't even get to the best bit yet, either.
While it's absolutely fair to say that Netflix has a considerably larger library than Apple TV Plus, it's easy to argue that the former's approach of quantity over quality has come into sharp relief in recent years.
By contrast, Apple TV Plus seems to be on something of a roll. Whether it's a new TV show, a hit movie, or a must-watch documentary, there's something for everyone on Apple TV Plus right now. There are multiple seasons of Ted Lasso, the global phenomenon. There's Slow Horses of course, and who can forget Severance — although the lack of a second season does make that easier than I'd like.
Silo is a huge show for people who've already blown through Fallout, with more seasons on the way. Then there's the upcoming Dark Matter sci-fi epic, the amazing For All Mankind, and who can forget Foundation, too? Granted, we'd rather forget about See, but that's the odd one out here. And at just £1 more than the tier Netflix is taking away, Apple TV Plus is an absolute steal.
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