Apple TV Plus has the highest-rated content of all streamers despite a relatively small library, new report says

Ted Lasso on TV app on Apple Vision Pro
(Image credit: Future)

Amid claims that nobody is watching Apple TV Plus, a new report suggests that those who do watch the streamer's content are definitely enjoying it. According to that report, Apple TV Plus content has the highest IMDb rating of all of the streaming market, although it's fair to say that it also has one of the smallest libraries as well.

That means that while there might not be as much choice for those who are struggling to find something to watch, the content that is there is likely to be of a better standard than anything available via Netflix or Disney Plus despite there being much more choice via those streaming services.

According to that report, Apple TV Plus "has the highest average IMDb score for its streaming library (7.01/10) for the 3rd year running (2021,2022, 2024), but has the smallest library of content." However, Netflix has the most ratings of 8 or more among viewers of TV shows.

Small but mighty

This is all according to a Self Financial study that set out to discover which streaming TV service is the best value for money.

"In the U.S. today, the average household has 4.4 average paid subscriptions, and a previous survey conducted on behalf of Self Financial found that Americans spend an average of $52.97 per month on streaming services," the report explained, noting that it "seems every few months there is a new TV streaming service asking us for a monthly subscription or confirming a price increase for the existing service."

But when it comes to Apple TV Plus, it's clear that people like what they see. Despite having the smallest library of content of those streamers tested, it has the highest average IMDb score across its entire library (7.01/10).

In terms of family-friendly content, however, Apple TV Plus has the lowest number of shows and movies but has the 

Apple TV+ has the lowest amount of family-friendly content but "has the highest-rated age-appropriate shows and movies (7.3/10) with Max the second-highest-rated (6.9/10), Disney+’s family-friendly content scored just 6.6/10 on IMDb."

In terms of different types of content, Apple TV Plus "has the highest-rated ‘action & adventure’ content (7/10), animation (7.3/10), biography (7.4/10), comedy (7/10), documentary (7.4), drama (7.1/10), and romance (6.9/10)," according to the figures put together by Self FInancial.

All of this is to say that while it might be easier to work through the catalog of Apple TV Plus content than with competing services, you'll probably have a better time doing it than you might elsewhere.

While Apple TV Plus doesn't have the biggest library of content, more is always on the way. The hotly anticipated second season of the hugely popular Severance will arrive at some point, and new shows and movies seem to be announced all the time. Will Apple TV Plus ever have a library to match that of Netflix or Disney Plus? That's unlikely, but at a price that's competitive and with some big hits to call its own, it might not need to compete on quantity so long as the quality remains high.

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Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.