Apple TV vs Apple TV+ What's The Difference? (2024)

People often confuse Apple TV vs Apple TV+. It’s not a surprise. The famous tech brand decided to draw the line between two products only by a tiny little “+”. That brings quite a misunderstanding. As Kitcast is digital signage software for Apple TV, our mission is to end the confusion between Apple TV vs Apple TV Plus once and for all.

Brief History of Apple TV

Let’s start from the beginning. Apple TV is a device. It’s a media box that allows you to stream content.

Over the years, the company went through ups and downs when it came to this gadget. Lows were so… low that at some point Steve Jobs dubbed Apple TV a “failure.” Its history starts in 1993 when the company released the Macintosh TV that looked like this:

It was the first attempt by the Cupertino brand to get into the TV market. 14-inch CRT screen and a TV tuner card were the features Apple banked on to be a first choice for consumers. It didn’t happen, though. The product was largely a failure so the company moved on.

The next move into TV came in 1996 with the creepily named Apple Pippin which cost $599 and tried to combine the home game console concept with that of a networked computer. PC Mag placed it among the 25 worst tech products of all time describing the device as “underpowered, overpriced, and underutilized–that pretty much describes everything that came out of Apple in the mid-90s.” Not a flattering description at all.

Having failed twice, Apple only returned to the TV concept in September 2006 when the brand announced a new device called “iTV”. But then again bad luck followed as the British broadcaster ITV warned Apple of using the same name. This threat gave birth to the present name. Apple TV bizarrely was born and March 2007 was the date of release.

Failure again. The first three generations of Apple TV were good devices for streaming. The problem was that the streaming hadn’t hit the mainstream yet. Users simply didn’t know what to do with a device that allowed them to show personal media on their TV. As Forbes stated, “It was a device before its time and a device that’s use case didn’t justify the price.”

It was only in 2015 that Apple finally cracked the code of producing a streaming device that fully comprehends what the user needs and packs it with fantastic functionality. That was the year when Apple TV HD (also known as the fourth generation) saw the light of day. It featured the App Store and integrated Siri experience as well as came with tvOS for the first time. It was a superb device. And it formed a foundation for the future of Apple TVs.

Finally, in September 2017, Apple presented the Apple TV 4K, the current version of the streaming box. 4K support, faster Apple A10X chip, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, it became a golden standard of digital media devices offering a smooth experience to the consumers and coming with added power for digital signage support too.

Since 2017, Apple upgraded the device twice and the latest version is the Apple TV 4K (third generation) which is, without any doubt, one of the best streaming devices ever created.

Brief History of Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is a subscription streaming service. It’s not a device. That’s the main difference between Apple TV vs Apple TV Plus.

In other words, if Apple TV is a competitor of Roku streaming players and Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV+ competes with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+.

Apple announced Apple TV+ during the Apple Special Event of March 2019 and used stars like Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg. It also launched an entertainment production division called Apple Originals to produce its own shows and movies.

Since then, Apple has become a fixture of streaming and original content giving us such hits as Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Mythic Quest, and Napoleon.

What is the Apple TV App?

There’s yet another Apple product that can bring even more confusion for users not familiar with the ecosystem. We’re talking about the Apple TV app (sometimes also referred to as Apple TV).

Well, it’s the application that allows you to watch Apple TV+ shows and movies as well as the Apple TV Channels a la carte video-on-demand service on your devices.

So What’s the Difference Between Apple TV vs Apple TV+

Apple TV is a streaming device.

Apple TV+ is a subscription-based streaming service.

Apple TV for Digital Signage

Apart from being a great choice for home use, Apple TV is an amazing digital signage device.

Kitcast is your go-to app to enable signage technology using Apple TV.

To start using screens for growing your business you would only need to plug the Apple TV into your screen, download the Kitcast app, and install it. That’s it. Simple, quick, and efficient.