Apple knew how to sell you a screen long before it tried to convince you what to watch on it. Apple TV was late to the streaming party, with the launch happening in 2019. By then Netflix had already changed the way people watched television and viewed the OTT space. Moreover, it was not the only notable competition, with Prime Video from Amazon, and Disney was gearing up to bring its biggest franchises to streaming. At the time of the launch, Apple did not have any decades-old sitcoms or blockbuster film franchises to fall back on. It had to get people talking one original show at a time.
So it pretty much started off as one big gamble. However, the same platform has now produced some genuinely compelling television shows. The lineup now has some of the finest science fiction shows that mess with your sense of reality, to spy dramas fuelled by bad decisions, and comedies that find warmth in unlikely places. If you’re still new to the ecosystem or have just gotten the subscription in and are not sure what to start, we have you covered. Here’s a complete list of the best Apple TV shows to stream in 2026
I’m not usually someone who gravitates towards science fiction, but Dark Matter has me waiting for the next episode. Based on Blake Crouch’s novel, the Apple TV thriller follows physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), who finds himself in an alternate version of his life and must find his way back to his wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), and their son.
What makes the show work is that the science fiction never feels like the whole point. Beneath the multiverse mechanics is a story about the choices we make, the people we love, and the unsettling possibility that another version of ourselves could have made very different decisions.
As Jason’s search unfolds, every new reality raises the stakes and makes the idea of an alternative life feel both tantalising and terrifying. Edgerton and Connelly keep the story grounded in the relationships at its centre, giving the mind-bending premise an emotional pull that extends beyond its sci-fi twists. Even when the shifting realities get complicated, there’s always a deeply human reason to see what happens next.
Best for: Anyone who enjoys character-driven thrillers, even if science fiction isn’t usually their first choice.
Few shows make optimism as entertaining as Ted Lasso. Jason Sudeikis stars as an American college football coach hired to manage AFC Richmond, an English Premier League soccer team, despite knowing next to nothing about the sport. The appointment is meant to end in failure, but Ted’s earnestness, relentless positivity, and knack for connecting with people gradually turn the club into something more than a collection of players.
I’ll admit I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy a show centred on a sport I don’t follow, but I found myself drawn to Ted himself. His optimism isn’t simply a running gag or an endless supply of motivational speeches. He’s flawed, struggles with his own problems, and sometimes uses humour to hide what he’s going through. Watching him navigate the egos, insecurities, and personal baggage of the people around him gives the comedy a surprising amount of depth. You don’t need to understand football to root for Ted, and that’s where the show wins you over.
Best for: Anyone looking for a funny, feel-good series with endearing characters and more emotional depth than its premise might suggest.
Most spy shows give you impeccably dressed agents, elaborate gadgets, and glamorous international locations. Slow Horses has Jackson Lamb, a brilliant MI5 officer who looks like he hasn’t changed his clothes in days and has little patience for anyone around him. Played by Gary Oldman, Lamb leads Slough House, a dumping ground for intelligence agents who’ve made career-ending mistakes. The catch is that being banished from MI5’s inner circle doesn’t mean they’re done with dangerous work.
Adapted from Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, the series thrives on the gap between how intelligence agencies present themselves and how they actually operate. The agents are frequently underestimated, their personal flaws create as many problems as their enemies do, and the dialogue is as cutting as the espionage is tense. Oldman is terrific as Lamb, delivering insults with the ease of someone who has long stopped caring what anyone thinks, while Jack Lowden brings restless energy to River Cartwright, an agent determined to prove himself. The result is a spy thriller that’s as funny as it is unpredictable, without losing sight of the danger its characters face.
With six seasons now in the mix, Slow Horses has built a remarkably consistent run, and its latest chapter continues to put the Slough House team in the middle of a dangerous game of retaliation and revenge. It’s the kind of series that rewards viewers who enjoy following a familiar cast through increasingly messy assignments, with enough twists to keep the stakes high.
Best for: Viewers who want a smart, darkly funny spy thriller with memorable characters and none of the usual James Bond gloss.
It started off as one of television’s strangest workplace premises and grew into something far more unsettling. In Severance, Adam Scott plays Mark Scout, a Lumon Industries employee whose work and personal memories have been surgically separated, leaving him with two versions of himself that know nothing about each other’s lives. The show’s sterile corridors, cryptic corporate rituals, and unnervingly cheerful employees make even routine office tasks feel sinister, while Scott, Britt Lower, and Tramell Tillman bring real complexity to characters caught inside Lumon’s increasingly disturbing experiment. Beneath the mystery is a pointed question about work and identity: if you could leave every professional frustration behind at the end of the day, what else would you have to give up? Season 2 pushes Mark and his colleagues into even murkier territory, adding new layers to Lumon’s secrets while making their fight to understand their own lives feel increasingly urgent. It’s a series best watched without looking up too many explanations beforehand, because the revelations land harder when you discover them alongside the characters.
Best for: Viewers who enjoy slow-burning mysteries, unsettling workplace satire, and science fiction that leaves you thinking long after an episode ends.
The Morning Show was actually the first series I watched on Apple TV, which probably says something about my taste in television. Plenty of viewers might have started with Ted Lasso or Slow Horses, but I’ve always had a soft spot for newsroom dramas. Having spent much of my career in newsrooms, I’m familiar with the politics, pressure, and competing egos that rarely make it into the final broadcast. Watching Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) navigate the daily battles behind a major American morning news programme felt surprisingly relatable. I was also drawn to the two leads, whose very different approaches to ambition, credibility, and power give the series much of its spark.
The show isn’t always subtle, and Season 3 felt like a bit of a drag in places, but it still managed to pull me into another binge. Beneath the glossy sets and high-stakes confrontations, The Morning Show has plenty to say about who controls the news, how far people will go to protect their positions, and what happens when professional ambition collides with personal loyalties. Its newsroom politics may be heightened for television, but the tensions at the heart of the drama feel familiar to anyone who has worked in a high-pressure media environment. And when Aniston and Witherspoon are sparring on screen, it’s hard not to stick around for the next round.
Best for: Viewers who enjoy behind-the-scenes newsroom drama, complicated female leads, and stories about ambition, power, and the messy business of getting the news on air.
In Silo, the outside world is supposedly toxic, and 10,000 people living in an underground structure have little choice but to trust the rules keeping them alive. Rebecca Ferguson plays Juliette Nichols, an engineer whose search for answers begins to expose cracks in everything the residents have been told. Adapted from Hugh Howey’s novels, the Apple TV drama builds its mystery through restricted archives, buried histories, and a society where asking the wrong questions can cost you your life. Ferguson gives Juliette a quiet stubbornness that suits a character who trusts evidence more than authority, while the claustrophobic setting makes every revelation feel consequential. The series takes its time, but its questions about who controls information, why people accept official versions of the truth, and what happens when someone starts digging are what keep the story compelling.
Best for: Viewers who enjoy dystopian mysteries, layered world-building, and stories about people challenging the systems that control them.
Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) is a therapist who has lost his wife and is barely holding his own life together. So he starts telling his patients exactly what he thinks, abandoning the professional boundaries he’s spent years teaching others to respect. In Shrinking, the fallout is frequently funny, but the show is just as interested in what happens when people stop pretending they’re fine. Harrison Ford is terrific as Jimmy’s blunt, experienced colleague Paul, while the ensemble gives the series its warmth and unpredictability. Grief, guilt, and the slow business of moving forward run through the comedy, keeping the characters grounded even when their choices are spectacularly ill-advised. The result is a show that can be irreverent about therapy without losing sight of how difficult it can be to put a life back together.
Best for: Viewers who enjoy character-led comedy with emotional depth, messy relationships, and a little irreverence.
Coming from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan, Pluribus has some formidable expectations to live up to. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of those shows, but there’s enough here to make it a worthwhile watch. Rhea Seehorn stars as Carol Sturka, a miserable romance novelist who finds herself among the few people seemingly unaffected when an unexplained phenomenon turns humanity into a collective of relentlessly cheerful, connected individuals. The premise is strange even by science-fiction standards, and Gilligan takes his time letting its implications sink in. Seehorn is the show’s anchor, giving Carol’s anger, scepticism, and loneliness a convincing edge as she tries to make sense of a world where everyone else seems perfectly content. The pacing can be deliberate, and viewers expecting the tightly wound plotting of Breaking Bad may find it a different proposition, but the unsettling humour and questions about individuality, consent, and happiness give the series plenty to chew on.
Best for: Viewers who enjoy offbeat science fiction, slow-burn storytelling, and unsettling ideas that linger after the credits roll.
Jon Hamm’s Andrew “Coop” Cooper has a rather unusual solution to losing his job as a hedge fund manager. He starts robbing his wealthy neighbours. Recently divorced and struggling to maintain the lifestyle he’s grown accustomed to, Coop knows exactly which homes to target and what their owners can afford to lose. The trouble is that breaking into people’s houses has a way of revealing things about them, and about himself, that are best left undiscovered. Created by Jonathan Tropper, Your Friends & Neighbors mixes suburban crime with a pointed look at the excesses of the wealthy, without pretending its central character is some kind of Robin Hood. Hamm is particularly good at playing a man who can recognise the absurdity of the world he inhabits without quite giving up his place in it. Season 2 raises the stakes, with James Marsden joining the cast and giving Coop another wealthy, complicated neighbour to contend with. The show’s appeal lies in watching privilege, desperation, and self-justification collide, often with darkly funny results.
Best for Viewers who enjoy dark comedy, wealthy people behaving badly, and crime dramas where the lead is far from a conventional hero.
Vikhyaat Vivek is a tech journalist and reviewer with seven years of experience covering consumer hardware, with a focus on PCs, smartphones, audio gear, and gaming technology. His work spans breaking news, deep-dive features, opinion pieces, and hands-on reviews, with an emphasis on long-term usability, performance, and how devices fit into real-world routines rather than spec sheets alone.
Previously a Senior Writer at Gizmochina, Vikhyaat has also contributed to major tech publications, including 91Mobiles and MySmartPrice. His reporting sits at the intersection of product testing and enthusiast culture, shaped by years of reviewing everything from flagship phones and premium laptops to gaming peripherals, wireless audio devices, and everyday consumer tech.
A lifelong gamer, he brings a player-first lens to gaming hardware and performance-focused devices, with a particular interest in how design choices affect immersion, comfort, and competitive use. When he is not testing new gadgets, he is usually deep in a Warhammer 40K rabbit hole or putting more hours into Arc Raiders than he probably should.
Expertise: Gaming, Smartphones, PC Hardware, Audio, AI, Astronomy
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
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