Apple is the most valuable company in human history. They have more cash on hand than most countries have GDP. When they decided to launch a streaming service, they did what Apple always does: they threw money at it.
Apple TV+ has reportedly spent over $20 billion on original content since launching in 2019. They've signed deals with the biggest names in Hollywood — Scorsese, Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Jon Stewart. They've bought prestige films and given them theatrical releases. They've won Oscars.
And yet: most people can't name 5 Apple TV+ shows. Most people don't have Apple TV+. Most people who DO have it got it free with their iPhone purchase.
The Argylle Problem
Let's talk about Argylle, because it perfectly captures Apple's approach: spend an absurd amount of money and assume quality will follow.
Apple spent $200M on a spy movie with a CGI cat, directed by Matthew Vaughn, starring Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, and Dua Lipa. The cast alone probably cost $60-80M. The marketing budget was enormous. Apple promoted it as a major theatrical event.
It made $96M worldwide against that $200M production budget (plus marketing). A catastrophic loss. Reviews were mediocre. Audiences shrugged. The CGI cat — which was meant to be charming — was off-putting. The twist was predictable. The franchise setup was DOA.
$200M. Because Apple thought star power + budget = success. The same equation that fails every single time for every single studio. Having more money than God doesn't help when you don't know what to spend it on.
The Prestige Trap
Apple's strategy has been: buy prestige, and subscribers will follow. Sign Scorsese — he'll bring credibility. Sign Spielberg — he'll bring eyeballs. Win the Oscar for CODA — subscribers will flood in.
Here's what actually happened: Scorsese made Killers of the Flower Moon, a brilliant $200M film that Apple co-financed with Paramount. It made $157M at the box office — a loss on the theatrical side. Apple absorbed the hit because they wanted the prestige. The Oscars. The headlines.
But prestige doesn't pay for itself. Netflix learned this. Amazon learned this. And Apple, despite having infinite money, is learning it too. You can buy talent. You can buy awards campaigns. You can't buy an audience.
What Apple Gets Wrong
Apple treats content like a product launch. In hardware, they can spend $10B on R&D, launch a product, and dominate through sheer quality and brand power. Content doesn't work that way.
Content is messy. It's subjective. You can't engineer a hit the way you engineer a chip. The best content comes from creative risk, from artists who might fail spectacularly. Apple's corporate culture — perfectionist, controlled, secretive — is fundamentally at odds with the chaos that produces great art.
The result is a library of extremely well-produced, extremely expensive, extremely safe content that nobody feels passionate about. Ted Lasso broke through. Severance broke through. Everything else is beautifully shot, competently made, and emotionally forgettable.
$20 billion for "emotionally forgettable" is a hell of a price tag. Even for Apple.