A New Name, a New Look, and a Composer
In October 2025, Apple renamed its video streaming platform from Apple TV+ to Apple TV, retiring the plus sign that had defined the service since its 2019 launch.1, 2 The change was accompanied by a comprehensive identity refresh: a new logo, an animated mnemonic, and a commissioned sonic identity.
The logo was created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Apple's long-standing creative agency, using a deliberately analogue method.3 The team built an oversized glass version of the Apple TV wordmark on a blacked-out stage and lit it with colored studio lights. The resulting footage, captured entirely in-camera with no computer-generated imagery, became the animated logo that now opens Apple TV originals and appears across the app and marketing campaigns.3, 4 The approach reflects a commitment to practical craft in an industry increasingly reliant on digital production.
Sound, Type, and Strategy
The rebrand extended beyond the visual. Composer Finneas O'Connell, best known for producing and writing Billie Eilish's early catalog, developed three sonic mnemonics for the platform, creating audio marks that appear across programming and marketing.4 Apple's in-house design team also developed a custom typeface, SF TV, tailored to the streaming context and consistent with Apple's broader typographic system.5
The decision to drop the plus sign carries strategic weight beyond aesthetics. "Apple TV+" had long functioned as a qualifier, a signal that the service offered something supplementary rather than something standalone. The simplified name positions Apple TV as an independent entertainment brand rather than an extension of Apple's device ecosystem, a shift that reflects the service's growing slate of award-winning originals and an ambition to compete on equal terms with Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. Apple Newsroom, "Apple is the exclusive new broadcast partner for Formula 1 in the U.S.", 17 October 2025, for the renaming of the streaming subscription from Apple TV+ to Apple TV and for the rename having taken effect in October 2025, ahead of the identity launch. The release carries the note "The Apple TV subscription (formerly Apple TV+) does not include third-party branded subscription services or content available for rental or purchase in the Apple TV app." It is the specific newsroom item behind the generic Apple Newsroom link listed in sources.md. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/10/apple-is-the-exclusive-new-broadcast-partner-for-formula-1-in-the-us/
2. Wikipedia, "Apple TV+", for the service having launched on 1 November 2019, the 2019 launch the body dates the plus sign from. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_TV%2B
3. Fast Company, Grace Snelling, "Apple TV made its colorful new logo in a delightfully old-school way", 9 November 2025, for TBWA\Media Arts Lab as the agency behind the new Apple TV branding, for the analogue method of a giant glass version of the Apple TV logo filmed on a blacked-out stage under colored studio lights, the glass logos sculpted with the London studio Optical Arts, and for the resulting footage having been made with practical effects rather than CGI and used as the static logo and the two animated sequences of five and twelve seconds. https://www.fastcompany.com/91437623/apple-tv-new-logo-practical-effects
4. NewscastStudio, Dak Dillon, "Apple TV debuts vibrant rainbow logo animation with Finneas-composed mnemonic following rebrand", 4 November 2025, for the animation having been created entirely in camera with practical effects and no CG, for TBWA\Media Arts Lab's description of the work, "Built from real glass and captured entirely in camera, the new identity explores reflection, color, and light to express the cinematic spirit at the heart of Apple TV", and for the sonic mnemonic composed by Finneas O'Connell consisting of three versions, a five second main version before television episodes, a one second sting for movie trailers and production company logos, and a twelve second version shown in theaters before Apple Studios films. https://www.newscaststudio.com/2025/11/04/apple-tv-debuts-vibrant-rainbow-logo-animation-with-finneas-composed-mnemonic-following-rebrand/
5. Wikipedia, "San Francisco (sans-serif typeface)", for SF TV being a 2025 member of Apple's San Francisco type family made for the Apple TV service. Added during the retrofit because no listed source covers the typeface. Corroborated by 9to5Mac, Zac Hall, "Apple TV's colorful new intro was created with real glass and practical effects", 6 November 2025, which states that "Apple's design team also created the SF TV custom typeface, another variation of its San Francisco typeface"; 9to5Mac is off whitelist and used for corroboration only. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_(sans-serif_typeface) https://9to5mac.com/2025/11/06/apple-tvs-colorful-new-intro-was-created-with-real-glass-and-practical-effects/
