After six months, where does Apple TV+ stand in the streaming wars?

The fledgling streaming service has hit the six-month mark, and after its fair share of milestones and mishaps, Apple TV+ shows little signs of slowing down.

While some may speculate that Apple TV+’s first six months were a lackluster affair, they couldn’t be more wrong as the streaming service shows plenty of promise at this stage in the game. At just half a year, the tech giant has released one of the most unique and compelling lineups of original live-action scripted shows, eye-opening documentaries, spectacular children’s programming, not to mention several critically acclaimed films. Compared to the early days of Netflix and Amazon, those are some impressive results, to say the least.

It’s important to remember that Netflix didn’t release House of Cards until three years after it entered the streaming game. Amazon didn’t strike gold with Transparent until a year and a half into their efforts in developing original content. Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, however, after less than two months, received three Golden Globe nominations. Not too long after that, Billy Crudup received a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Jennifer Aniston won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a drama.

Apple has yet to launch any game-changing phenomena to the likes of Game of Thrones, Tiger King, or The Mandalorian, but that doesn’t make any of its offering any less appealing. Servant, For All Mankind, Little America, Home Before Dark, and See have all laid down some excellent groundwork for some exciting sophomore runs. Trying, Dickinson, and Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet are solid, side-splitting comedies. Defending Jacob, Truth be Told, and Visible: Out on Television make up the rest of the outstanding lineup consisting of inspiring and captivating entries.

The handful of fantastic films Apple has in play includes a well-received Spike Jonze directed live documentary about the Beastie Boys and a nonfiction feature called The Elephant Queen, which is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

As far as captivating narratives go, the Sundance and TIFF standout Hala, and the critically acclaimed period piece The Banker are only a click away. This exemplary list will only get better as Apple has a deal going with Indie distributor A24, who is notoriously known for putting out award-caliber projects, and some of them will end up on the streaming service for subscribers to enjoy.

For the young ones, there is a stellar list of children’s programming that is engaging educational and entertaining such as Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth featuring the voice of Merryl Streep. Given all this, its clear there is very little problem in the quality department, but when it comes to quantity, thas really where Apple TV+’s struggles begin.

The lack of a back catalog of licensed movies and shows isn’t an ideal source of entertainment for some, but for hardcore Apple users, it’s similar to the bonus Prime members receive with Amazon’s streaming originals. If consumers are already utilizing iTunes on their Apple TVs, iMacs, MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones to enjoy their favorite titles, then Apple TV+ is the perfect, affordable add-on. Because let’s be honest, if someone can afford a Mac product, they can easily afford $5 a month.

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One of their other major issues the app has is its layout. It’s very similar to that of Amazon Prime’s where titles for sale and rent are mixed in with the free content one gets for being a subscriber. The only difference here is the service is so unknown that people don’t fully understand what the $4.99 per month cost entails, some believing it only allows you to pay to rent or buy more content, which isn’t entirely the case. Despite these setbacks, Apple TV+ had an estimated 34 million subscribers as of January, according to Ampere Analysis, so they are obviously doing something right.

All their issues seem to boil down to a lack of content, which will improve over time. One prominent move was bringing in former HBO chairman Richard Plepler’s production company for an exclusive five-year production deal. This is just one of the many strategic steps made showing they are definitely setting themselves up to become a much more significant player down the line.

If Apple continues to put out content at this rate, it will top 100 titles by next year, putting them in a superb position to usurp the likes of HBO, Disney, and Netflix. Upcoming originals include an Isaac Asimov adaptation, Ben Stiller’s Severance, J.J. Abrams’ Little Voice, the animated comedy series Central Park, and a World War II-set miniseries that will be the first-ever series from Apple’s in-house production studio.

The streaming wars are far from over, and while they don’t have the biggest army on the battlefield yet, their forces are growing every day. Overall, the stories are refreshing, the performances are masterful, the visuals are stunning, and there is no question that when consumers take a bite out of Apple TV+ their always getting something they can’t find anywhere else. Contrary to popular belief, Apple is still very much in the fight.