Friday, November 7: Apple TV+ experienced a major global outage between November 6 and 7, leaving tens of thousands of subscribers unable to stream content during the highly anticipated premiere of “Pluribus,” a new sci-fi series from Vince Gilligan.
The disruption began around 9:00 PM ET on Thursday, just as the platform debuted the show’s first two episodes. Viewers across the United States and international markets reported error messages and buffering screens while attempting to access the platform.
According to Downdetector, outage reports surged to over 11,700 within hours, indicating widespread streaming failures. Apple’s own system status page confirmed a system-wide issue impacting video delivery services.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Apple TV+, as “Pluribus” marked one of its most heavily promoted original releases of the fall season. The show stars Rhea Seehorn in a leading role and follows “the world’s most miserable person desperately trying to save the planet from happiness,” as described by creator Vince Gilligan.
Service was gradually restored by Friday, November 7, with most users regaining access after an estimated 12–18 hours of downtime. Apple has yet to comment on the exact cause of the outage. However, experts suggest that server overload during the high-traffic launch window may have contributed to the disruption.
The incident underscores the ongoing vulnerability of streaming platforms during major content launches, where simultaneous global demand can overwhelm infrastructure—even for established services like Apple TV+.
While “Pluribus” is now available to stream, the outage has sparked conversations online about Apple’s preparedness for large-scale premieres and how such disruptions can affect brand reliability during high-profile releases.
