Showtime today confirmed that its self-titled standalone streaming service will be released today for the Apple TV, allowing viewers to pay for Showtime's exclusive series directly without needing a cable subscription (via Re/code).
First announced just over a month ago, the service will cost those interested $10.99 per month and everyone can sign up for a 30-day free trial to test the experience before subscribing. The service will cost users a few dollars less than HBO NOW's $15 streaming cost, which debuted exclusively on Apple TV earlier in the Spring.
Showtime's launch today comes in a bit ahead of the previously-announced July 12 release date for the standalone service, a date that coincided with the network's big summer premieres of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex. No doubt giving users a few days to prepare before the summer premieres, those interested should be start seeing the Showtime app on the Apple TV shortly.
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category:
Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game)
Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
Tuesday April 14, 2026 4:39 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Wednesday March 25, 2026 3:33 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple this week released tvOS 26.4, and the software update includes a handful of new features and changes for the Apple TV.
tvOS 26.4 is compatible with all Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models released since 2015. To update your Apple TV, open the Settings app on the device, navigate to System → Software Updates, and select Update Software.
Below, we have recapped what is new in tvOS...
Wednesday March 18, 2026 10:17 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming watchOS 26.4, tvOS 26.4 and visionOS 26.4 updates for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple released the fourth betas. Release candidates are the final updates that will be provided to the public in the near future if no final bugs are discovered.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on...
Apple today shared a trailer for "Outcome," a dark comedy film starring Keanu Reeves, Jonah Hill, Cameron Diaz, David Spade, Martin Scorsese, and others. The original film will be available to stream on Apple TV starting Friday, April 10.
Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill in "Outcome"
In the film, Keanu Reeves plays Reef Hawk, a Hollywood star who is being extorted with a video that would damage...
By the time you add all these separate services up that cost 10+ bucks a month, (Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, Showtime, etc) to equal that same programming you had with cable or satellite, it's going to cost virtually the same as what you was paying before, but instead of all your programming being from one provider, you now have to use all these different apps to watch what you want, different fees. Tell me again how this is better than cord cutting again?
HBO and Showtime are just being greedy. They both cost $9.99 to add as a cable package. Meaning, that $9.99 also includes cable's cut. I think $5.99 would have been an awesome price for these. They would get many more customers.
Yeah, and just think of how many they'd get if the services were free! Or if they paid everyone five bucks a month to use the service! Or if they made everyone in America an employee of the network with an annual salary of $100,000 and a retirement package! They'd get SO MANY more customers!
I don't know where you live, but here, the add-on channels are $19.99/month, so HBO and Showtime are significantly cheaper as standalones.
HBO and Showtime are just being greedy. They both cost $9.99 to add as a cable package. Meaning, that $9.99 also includes cable's cut. I think $5.99 would have been an awesome price for these. They would get many more customers.
I appreciate that they are less than HBO's $15 but I don't see the reason to do $10.99. I get why they would do $9.99 to not get to a $10 threshold but the psychological difference between 10 and 11 isn't that great to need a .99 trick. I'm actually kind of tired of the whole .99 trick because my brain has to automatically round it up. The attempted manipulation is annoying. I prefer round numbers. DIE penny, die already.
By the time you add all these separate services up that cost 10+ bucks a month, (Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, Showtime, etc) to equal that same programming you had with cable or satellite, it's going to cost virtually the same as what you was paying before, but instead of all your programming being from one provider, you now have to use all these different apps to watch what you want, different fees. Tell me again how this is better than cord cutting again?
$25 for two channels (HBO and Showtime). So far I'm not too excited about the future of a la carte TV.
Oh, I completely agree with you on that one. Even the package that Apple was trying to put together for $40. That's like cable ... only smaller ...
Not sure where all this is going, but so far it looks like it's simply evolving. Not getting better.
My prediction...
First Apple Music...
Then...
Apple Cinema:
$39.99/mo - includes live streaming TV package.
$99.99/mo - includes live streaming TV package plus full, ad-free access to all movies and TV shows on the iTunes Store.
I don't see why this couldn't/wouldn't happen in the future given what's happened with the music industry.
