Apple unlocks streaming shows, movie to watch for free

Apple knows you’re stuck at home, so it’s offering up a selection of its subscription TV shows and movies free to watch for everyone.

Apple will unlock a selection of its original content to watch for free from this weekend.

Seven TV shows and one movie that are usually behind the paywall of its premium platform, Apple TV+, will be available to watch without a subscription for a limited time, starting on Saturday, April 11 at 7am AEST.

Apple TV+ usually costs $7.99 per month so it’s a really great opportunity for Australians to get a taste of what the streaming service offers. In turn, Apple is hoping to promote its fledgling product in front of the millions of people social distancing at home and looking to fill their time, and maybe convert them into paying subscribers down the line.

To access the freebies, you need an Apple ID, which anyone with an iPhone, iPad or Macbook would have, or if you’re not an Apple device user, you probably still have one from when you created an iTunes account yonks ago. You can also sign up for one for free.

The tech company launched its own streaming service in November 2019, hoping to muscle in on the turf already occupied by the likes of Netflix, Disney, Amazon and, locally, Stan and Foxtel.

It threw big money behind big names to create exclusive shows and movies, including Reese Witherspoon, Steven Spielberg and Oprah.

The eight pieces of content it’s selected to offer up for free also happen to be among Apple TV+’s most critically acclaimed titles.

For parents, the three kids’ shows will appeal, Snoopy in Space, Helpsters and Ghostwriter. The movie you can watch for free is The Elephant Queen, a narrative nature documentary that originally made screened on the festival circuit before it was acquired for Apple TV+.

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Hailee Steinfeld as a young Emily Dickinson in Dickinson, one of the shows you can watch for free on Apple

But the real draw are the four TV shows it’s chosen, a diverse slate of genres and stories.

Little America: An anthology series from Lee Eisenberg (The Office), Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick) and Alan Yang (Master of None) featuring the stories of immigrants in America. It’s heartwarming, heartbreaking and a real star on Apple TV+.

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Servant: Unsettling, chilling and puzzling, this thriller series was created by Tony Basgallop but produced by M. Night Shyamalan, who also directed the first episodes. It’s about a wealthy couple who welcome a nanny into their gorgeous but cold townhouse – and everyone has a secret.

Dickinson: This charming series is a fresh take on American poet Emily Dickinson, but told from the perspective of a young Emily, a sassy and woke woman butting up against the restrictive social confines of 19th century New England. It’s stylish, winning and Hailee Steinfeld is a real talent.

For All Mankind: From Ron D. Moore, the creator of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, this drama is an alternative history of mid-century America, a scenario in which the Soviets beat the US to the moon, which has a ripple effect on the social psyche of not just NASA but the whole country.

Apple hasn’t revealed an end date to when these TV shows and movies will no longer be free to watch, so if you’re keen, hurry.

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