A New Name, a New Look, and a Composer
In November 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. 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. 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. 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 two sonic mnemonics for the platform, creating audio marks that appear across programming and marketing. 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.
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.
