Why cutting (or at least shrinking) TV+ makes sense
- The economics look ugly. Reporting in 2025 said Apple TV+ was losing over $1B per year, after spending $5B+ annually on content since launch (with some trimming).
- Even if subs are decent, the leverage is limited. Streaming is a knife fight against Netflix/Disney/Amazon, where scale and back catalogs win, not taste.
- Meanwhile AI is now core-product critical. Apple Intelligence is already shipping and expanding across iPhone/iPad/Mac—this is now the center of the OS story.
- Apple is telegraphing urgency. In late 2025 Apple reshuffled AI leadership amid Siri setbacks, which is basically the company saying: “this must get fixed.”
The better move than “kill TV+” outright:
slash, focus, and redeploy
If you want the cleanest win, don’t rage-quit TV+—stop trying to out-Netflix Netflix.
TV+ should become:
- A tight “brand halo” slate (a few tentpoles, not a content flood).
- A sports + events wedge (high retention, weekly habit).
- A services bundle enhancer, not a profit center you keep feeding endlessly.
That frees real money and—more important—exec attention.
What “double down on AI” should mean (the actual checklist)
Apple doesn’t win AI by having “some features.” Apple wins by turning AI into the new operating layer.
1) Siri 2.0: reliability > vibes
If Siri isn’t radically better in accuracy, latency, and doing things across apps, Apple’s platform power erodes. The late-2025 leadership shakeup screams that this is priority #1.
2) On-device models as a superpower
Apple’s unfair advantage is hardware + privacy + distribution. Push models down onto devices wherever possible, and use cloud only when it’s truly needed (and audited). (Apple’s own messaging frames Apple Intelligence around this “personal + private” approach.)
3) The developer platform: make AI an API, not a demo
Apple needs to weaponize the ecosystem: best-in-class on-device inference tools, structured “action” frameworks, evaluation tooling, and dead-simple ways for every app to become smarter without leaking user data.
4) Infrastructure + acquisitions, on purpose
Cook has publicly said Apple plans to significantly increase AI investment, including data centers, and is open to acquisitions to accelerate the roadmap.
Translation: don’t nibble—buy missing pieces (models, tooling, eval, agent frameworks), and integrate hard.
5) Make AI a feature that sells hardware
If AI doesn’t move iPhone upgrade rates and lock in the platform, it’s not “Apple-level.” Build the stuff that makes people feel: I can’t go back.
The steelman counterpoint (so the take stays sharp)
Apple can afford TV+ losses, and prestige content does create brand heat and stickiness. Also: services diversification matters. But even if that’s true, the opportunity cost is brutal: AI directly determines the future of iOS/macOS relevance. Streaming doesn’t.
The punchline strategy
Apple’s job is to cut what’s “nice,” to fund what’s “necessary.”
Make TV+ smaller and meaner. Put the freed cash + leadership focus into Siri, models, tooling, infrastructure, and acquisitions. Because in 5 years, nobody will care who won the streaming trophy—people will care who owns the interface to reality.