Three words rule the thoughts of most middle-aged people — ‘shoulda’, ‘coulda’, ‘woulda’. The words ‘midlife’ and ‘crisis’ seem to complete itself and the thought of it makes most people come undone. What we forget is that crisis, which Webster’s defines as a “decisive moment”, also stands for opportunity. In the era of mindfulness, midlife means creativity.

Apple is 44 years old. And its CEO Tim Cook has turned midlife into a rebirth of sorts. Yes, the Macs, iPhones and iPads continue to come, better than ever. At the same time, diversification has been key to the company’s success lately, thanks to Apple-y stuff like the Watch, AirPods and Apple TV+.

With the lockdown on, pop culture has moved to streaming services. Yet, beyond a handful of shows, how many titles are out there breaking the mould? You probably have seen them all even before social distancing became the norm.

What’s new? When Apple TV+ launched in November last year, there was almost zero fanfare in India. Other streaming services were way ahead on the curve, offering really good shows like Inside Edge, The Family Man and Sacred Games. But in the last few weeks, post 8pm I decided to switch to Apple TV+ and after a couple of hours, Tim Cook’s words to investors last year came back to me: “We’re really proud of the content. We’d like as many people as possible to view it.”

A meaningful service

The person who got me hooked on the service is an eight-year-old with a ferocious appetite for Peanuts, the comic book. She not only has a stash of the Charles Schulz creation but also TV shows based on the iconic comic strip. Among the Apple TV+ originals is Snoopy in Space, which is about the pet beagle setting out to become a NASA astronaut and eventually becomes one. Every episode has the philosophical vein of the comic strip while introducing children to concepts around space, moon and rockets. It’s an amazing show.

Hooked, I tried watching the Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson starrer, The Banker, which is available on the platform. Set largely before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, it has Mackie’s African-American entrepreneur Bernard S. Garrett moving to Los Angeles where he meets Jackson’s Joe Morris, a club owner. The two begin to buy home in white areas and renting them out to the city’s black middle class. It’s a heroic tale with very little not to love about.

This led me to another Apple TV+ original, Home Before Dark, which is probably one of the best OTT shows at the moment. The mystery-drama follows nine-year-old journalist Hilde Lisko (played by the lovable Brooklynn Prince), a character based on the real-life child, Hilde Lysiak, who drew a lot of attention when she broke the news of a local murder in her self-published newspaper. She is a miniature Sherlock Holmes.

The other favourite is once again a kid-friendly title — the reboot of the ’90s TV show, Ghostwriter. A neighbourhood bookstore is haunted by a ghost, who begins to unleash fictional characters from books into the real world as if there is some unfinished business. And only a band of four children can help the ghost.

Offering a lighter note is Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, which has the feel of an old-school workplace comedy while the story is of a game development studio where the characters have no lives beyond the office. As for the show, which brought Jennifer Aniston back to the small screen — the marquee offering, The Morning Show — takes viewers behind the murky world of broadcast news. It also stars Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell.

There is a thread that binds the watch list — the shows are meaningful yet entertaining.

Beyond originals

Usually, OTT platforms have a limited number of originals but to tide customers over until the next big show appears, people are expected to engage with licensed content. Apple has a slightly different approach. There are originals (the library is ever growing). There are films (which we will soon talk about). And there are “channels” — Smithsonian Channel Plus and Tastemade.

To access Smithsonian Channel Plus one has to pay extra after a short “free access” period. The content on this channel is highly educative (though mostly focussed on the US) but not boring. The offering spans genres including history, air and space, nature and wildlife, science, travel, and pop culture, offering shows like Aerial America, The Lost Tapes and America’s Hidden Stories. All the shows are made on big budgets with focus on authenticity.

The other is Tastemade, which, too, attracts extra cost after a short preview period (seven days). Tastemade is one of the world’s best food and travel programming platforms. There is hours of content out there with series such as After School Snack and Purpose Project to the fun Basic Versus Baller: Travel at Any Cost and Day of Gluttony.

Films and more films

The most frustrating bit about watching Netflix is the sparse collection of English films from the past. A few months ago, before logging into Apple TV+, The Guns of Navarone was on the mind. It’s a classic that I last watched when TNT/TCM was available in India. While in the mood for classics, I wanted to watch Peter Sellers’s Pink Panther and the evergreen The Apartment, directed by none other than Billy Wilder. Unable to access any of them on Amazon Prime Movies or Netflix, I gave it a shot on the Apple service. All of them are there, though on rent/purchase basis. Frankly, not many people would complain paying Rs 120 (at times Rs 150) as rent to watch a comfort film.

Thanks to Apple TV+, I could show my daughter Roman Holiday and Tom Hanks’s Big. She also got to watch the latest from Hollywood’s everyman, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. And in an infinite scrolling mode, I came across the 2016 film, The Founder, starring Michael Keaton. I never thought the founding story of McDonald’s could be so thrilling.

Yes, you may say I primarily like to watch English films and TV shows but that’s me. The likes of Bahubali and Piku are also there but why rent these movies when many of them are accessible on other streaming services.

More wows than quibbles

Obviously this doesn’t mean that the service doesn’t come with a few hiccups. To Apple’s advantage, the service is not locked to the company’s devices. If you have Amazon Fire TV devices or the latest Samsung or LG TVs, go ahead. By way of cost, it’s almost peanuts. One year of the service is free when you buy an Apple device otherwise there is the Rs 99 per month plan.

By way of picture and sound clarity, this is as good as it gets; at times I wonder if it’s streaming or Blu-ray disc. Presentation cannot be any better. But the flip side is Internet connectivity in times of Covid-19. It would be highly appreciated if Apple would introduce a streaming quality option because — at the moment — connectivity is patchy. Second, if you are watching the service using Amazon Fire TV, the app can surely be improved by way of design.

Coming back to a company enjoying midlife. Like many out there, midlife is no longer about swapping hatchbacks for an Audi or Porsche; it’s a moment to look for deeper meaning. Like life can be reimagined, Apple has reimagined itself with Apple TV+ while playing to its strengths.

Samuel L. Jackson (left) and Anthony Mackie in The Banker, one of the first films from Apple Picture: Apple

Get a feel of Apple TV+

For a limited time, customers in over 100 countries and regions can watch free Apple Originals from Apple TV+ on the Apple TV app. Simply head to apple.co/FreeForEveryone to easily access some critically appreciated series and films for free on the Apple TV app.

The Apple TV app is available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung and LG smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices.

Apple originals that are streaming for free include The Elephant Queen, Little America, Servant, For All Mankind, Dickinson, Helpsters, Ghostwriter and Snoopy In Space.

Apple Music initiative

Music streaming service Apple Music has a new initiative — ‘Stream Local’. It will act as a platform for Indian music, including chart-toppers and newly-released titles. Some of the artistes included are Raftaar, Neha Kakkar, Armaan Malik, Darshan Rawal, The Earth Below and Sameer Rahat.

Playlists to be featured on the new initiative includes Badshah, Nucleya, The New India and Indian Independent Hits.

Apple Music has globally set up an advance fund of $50m to support indie music labels. The company’s CEO Tim Cook has announced that the company will donate $10 million to the ‘One World: Together at Home’ benefit, a Covid-19 fundraiser organised by Global Citizen and the World Health Organisation, in collaboration with Lady Gaga.

It will feature appearances by Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Chris Martin, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Elton John, Idris and Sabrina Elba, J. Balvin, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Paul McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan, Stevie Wonder and others.

The event is slated to stream live on April 18.