Apple confirms launch date and price for its TV+ streaming service

The streaming service, set to rival Netflix as it also offers a range of its own original content, will launch worldwide on 1st November for £4.99 a month in the UK and $4.99 in the US.

That's just over half the price of Netflix’s standard tariff of £8.99, and £1 less than it's most basic package (which only allows streaming to a single device at a time) .

Apple is also offering customers who buy an iPhone or iPad a year’s free trial of the service, and a blanket seven-day free trial for anyone who wants to give it a go.

The news was announced by Apple boss Tim Cook at the Apple Special Event, which also unveiled three new iPhones and a trailer for Jason Momoa’s See, an upcoming drama/horror series that will be available on Apple TV+.

The streaming service launches with several original programmes, each with its own star-studded cast.

A press release specified nine titles that will be available at launch, including The Morning Show, the comedy-drama about an ageing TV anchor, fronted by Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell.

Other programmes include:

• Dickinson, a comedy about the poet Emily Dickinson with Hailee Steinfeld
• Period drama For All Mankind from the creator of Battlestar Galactica
• A series fronted by Oprah Winfrey
• The Helpsters, a spin-off from Sesame Street
• A cartoon titled Snoopy in Space
• A children’s programme called Ghostwriter
• The Elephant Queen, a glam accompanied at the Toronto Film Festival

Additional titles will be arriving in months after the launch, including a thriller from Sixth Sense director M Night Shyamalan.

Bingeing will be an option for Apple TV+ customers, with Apple adding that most of the series will premiere with three episodes to watch straight away, while others will have full seasons available at once.

Apple TV + launches in the UK on 1st November