10 Amazing Sci-Fi TV Shows That Prove Apple TV+ Is The Best Streaming Service For The Genre

Over the past few years, Apple TV+ has developed a reputation for its incredible sci-fi shows, leaving other streaming platforms behind. There are many people wondering whether Apple TV+ is worth the investment, since it doesn’t have nearly as many subscribers as some of the other major streaming platforms, like Netflix and Amazon. For sci-fi fans, the answer to this conundrum is an unequivocal yes.

Many of Apple TV+’s best shows are in the sci-fi genre, showing a concerted effort from the streaming platform to develop the best and most interesting sci-fi shows on TV. This is one hook that the service has, as well as a raft of A-list talent and some top-quality original movies too. Apple TV+ has a variety of sci-fi shows to please all fans of the genre, from dark thrillers to more comedic shows.

10

Sunny

Rashida Jones Stars In A Thrilling Mystery With An Upbeat Robot

Sunny stars Rashida Jones as an American living in Japan who suddenly finds herself alone when her husband and son go missing in a plane crash. Her only companion is a mysterious artificially intelligent robot designed by her husband who seems to hold the key to unraveling the mystery behind his disappearance. Sunny starts out with a brilliant first episode that sets up an intriguing mystery, as well as getting into the mind of the main character.

Sunny is more comedic than most Apple TV+ sci-fi shows, and Jones’ deadpan delivery gets plenty of laughs. She manages to make grief and despair surprisingly humorous, but she also has the dramatic chops to carry the show’s more serious moments. Sunny was canceled after one season, but it’s still well worth watching for a slightly different offering from Apple. The near-future vision of Kyoto is created with subtle elegance, and this gives Sunny an immersive feel.

9

Silo

Rebecca Ferguson Leads An Ensemble Cast In A Thrilling Dystopian Series

As well as appearing in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies, Rebecca Ferguson stars in one of the best sci-fi shows on TV, although Silo still hasn’t gotten the kind of audience it deserves. Ferguson leads a great cast in the dystopian thriller, in which a community of people live in an underground silo, unsure of why they ever abandoned the surface world and what terrors might await them should they return.

Silo may start out with a simple concept, but it soon evolves into a complex and intriguing sci-fi series.

Silo sets up a few key mysteries early on, and it steadily reveals more breadcrumbs on the trail as the story progresses. Season 2 takes things up another notch, with plenty of twists and turns that raise the stakes. Silo may start out with a simple concept, but it soon evolves into a complex and intriguing sci-fi series, and one of its great strengths is that it never loses sight of its characters, even in the midst of some fascinating worldbuilding.

8

For All Mankind

For All Mankind Presents A Detailed Alternative History

For All Mankind has produced four seasons so far, with a fifth on the way in 2025. This gives sci-fi fans plenty to get stuck into, and it’s a richly rewarding series. For All Mankind takes its name from the lunar plaque left by the crew of Apollo 11 on the surface of the moon, and it’s a fitting title for a show that imagines a world in which the Soviet Union beat the United States to the moon, and the space race never ended.

Each season of For All Mankind jumps forwards a decade or so. Many of the same characters are followed throughout the years, but there are also plenty of new faces and new storylines each season. For All Mankind season 5 is set to take place in the 2010s, but there are plans to continue the show, meaning that For All Mankind will be heading into the future before too long.

7

Hello Tomorrow!

Hello Tomorrow’s Gorgeous Design Makes It Stand Out

Even if Hello Tomorrow isn’t the very best sci-fi show streaming on Apple TV+, it stakes a claim to being the most beautiful. The retrofuturist gem blends the charming style of 1950s Americana with advanced sci-fi gadgets. It often looks like a wonderfully crafted live-action version of The Jetsons, replete with all the creative background touches that make the world feel full and real.

Even if Hello Tomorrow isn’t the very best sci-fi show streaming on Apple TV+, it stakes a claim to being the most beautiful.

Hello Tomorrow stars Billy Crudup as a door-to-door salesman selling timeshares for property on the moon, trying to con people into believing that they can leave all their problems behind on Earth. Hello Tomorrow has some interesting storylines, and it also has a splash of comedy, with Crudup and Hank Azaria in particular delivering charming performances. Hello Tomorrow received some mixed reviews, and its renewal status remains up in the air.

6

Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters

The Monsterverse Show Earned Positive Reviews

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters came out in 2023, but it takes place a little earlier in the timeline of the Monsterverse. Monarch is set in the fallout of 2014’s Godzilla, although a separate timeline tracks the beginnings of the covert organization. Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt – who sci-fi fans might recognize from Black Mirror or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – play the same character in two different generations.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters brings some of the Monsterverse’s spectacular big-screen thrills to TV.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters brings some of the Monsterverse’s spectacular big-screen thrills to TV, but it also presents an interesting story to go along with its jaw-dropping visuals. For hardcore fans of Godzilla and other kaiju movies, there are plenty of important details that embellish the recent movies, but newcomers will also find a lot to enjoy. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is one of Apple TV+’s biggest shows, and season 2 is currently in development.

5

Constellation

Constellation Uses Sci-Fi To Explore Identity And Memory

Constellation stars Noomi Rapace as an astronaut who returns to Earth to find that everything is slightly different to how she remembers it, and she starts to feel unsure of her own identity. The story takes this intriguing premise through plenty of twists as different characters try to convince the astronaut of their own theories and beliefs, but it ends with even more questions. Unfortunately, Constellation has been canceled after season 1.

On some other streaming platforms, Constellation would be the standout sci-fi show, but the fact that Apple TV+ pulled the plug just goes to show that subscribers are spoiled for choice when it comes to sci-fi. Constellation presents an interesting delineation between the clear, empty scenes in space and the muddled reality of life on Earth. It could have gotten even better in season 2, but it won’t get the chance.

4

Dark Matter

Joel Edgerton Stars In A Multiverse Thriller

Dark Matter was one of Apple TV+’s best new shows in 2024, showing that the streaming platform is still developing original sci-fi shows that set the standard for the industry. Joel Edgerton stars as a physicist who is kidnapped and drugged on his way home one day. When he wakes up, he learns that he’s in an alternate reality, where his life is subtly different from the one that he is used to, and he races to devise a way to return home to his family.

Multiverse movies and TV shows have become increasingly popular in recent years, and Dark Matter is a welcome addition to the subgenre.

Dark Matter is based on the popular novel of the same name by Blake Crouch, with Crouch himself acting as creator and showrunner, so he is able to bring his sci-fi concepts to life in style. Multiverse movies and TV shows have become increasingly popular in recent years, and Dark Matter is a welcome addition to the subgenre, following events in two realities that allow Edgerton to play both hero and villain.

3

Invasion

Invasion Is An Interesting Slow-Burn With Characters Scattered Across The Globe

Invasion starts out like many alien invasion movies and TV shows, with mysterious rumblings in the sky, animals behaving strangely and large craters in remote deserts. However, this familiar set-up gives way to a different kind of alien invasion story altogether, as Invasion spends more time pondering society’s fractured response to the arrival of aliens than it spends on the action and anxiety that typically mark the subgenre.

A familiar set-up gives way to a different kind of alien invasion story altogether.

Invasion reads like an apt metaphor for the chaos and isolation of the pandemic, as extreme circumstances push ordinary people to extreme lengths. There are soldiers, scientists and ordinary families trying to survive all over the world in Invasion. One thing that remains largely absent are the actual aliens, who are only seen in occasional glimpses. This shifts more focus onto the social commentary that propels the story.

2

Foundation

Foundation Takes Inspiration From A Sci-Fi Classic

Foundation is based on Isaac Asimov’s trilogy of novels, which were long considered unsuitable for adaptation, despite their towering reputation in sci-fi circles. Apple TV+’s ambitious attempt to take on the task has earned a string of positive reviews so far. It isn’t always the most faithful adaptation, changing or inventing a few characters to fit into the format of TV, but it maintains Asimov’s scope without dumbing down his ideas.

Foundation revolves around the concept of “psychohistory,” a new field of social science that allows people to predict patterns of large groups of people across long periods of time. This emerging science predicts the downfall of the Galactic Empire, which leads to a frantic attempt to consolidate power and quash any signs of rebellion or dissent. Foundation season 3 could continue the show’s upward trend, and it seems likely that it will come at some point in 2025.

1

Severance

Severance Is Arguably Apple’s Best Show

After three long years, Severance is finally returning for season 2. Now is the perfect time to get caught up on season 1, but those who have already seen it could be forgiven for needing a reminder of Severance‘s key plot points. After the dramatic finale to the first season, the stakes could be taken up a notch for season 2. Severance‘s unique concept hasn’t run out of momentum just yet.

Severance imagines a world in which people can undergo an experimental surgical procedure to detach their memories of work from their memories of their personal lives. This intriguing idea plays on popular discussions about work-life balance, taking things to a new extreme to satirize corporate culture and different attitudes to work. The show has plenty of absurd humor woven in, but it can get extremely tense when it needs to, even incorporating elements of horror.