Apple has had quite a hit with the biggest of its slate of movies this year – F1. The film managed to trade on the Top Gun: Maverick reputation of director Joseph Kosinski, as well as the obvious star power of leading man Brad Pitt, to translate things into genuine box office success, which is a rarity even in an era where streaming platforms regularly win big awards.
Now it's finally confirmed when people will be able to watch the movie for free, since it's been available for digital purchase and rentals for quite a while now. F1 will hit Apple TV on 12 December worldwide, potentially making it a great option for viewing over the holidays.
The trailer above confirms the release date and gives those who haven't seen it a little taste of what they can expect, although the real pleasure is reportedly in the visceral nature of its actual racing scenes, which were filmed immersively during actual F1 race weekends over the course of a recent season.
There's some bigger, weirder news tied up into this streaming release, though, which eagle-eyed readers may have already spotted. Apple's taken this opportunity to relatively quietly rebrand its streaming offering entirely, principally by dropping the "+" that has been on the end since it launched. Now, it's all just Apple TV.
I can sort of see where Apple's coming from, not least because the app people launch on their streaming device or phone has been called Apple TV this whole time, but there's doubtless going to be some confusion as a result. After all, when Apple says the movie will be streaming on Apple TV from December 12, it surely makes it harder to understand that you can already rent the movie to stream on Apple TV right now.
Previously, you could safely know that anything on Apple TV+ required a subscription to watch, rather than a one-time payment or none at all, and I'm honestly really surprised that Apple's made this move. I'm thrilled to be able to give the "+" button a rest on my keyboard, but also preparing myself for a lot of future clarifications about just where shows and movies are headed.
