Wait! Don't subscribe to HBO Max until you've read this

HBO Max hits the UK and Ireland next month, and we can think of plenty of reasons to subscribe. The White Lotus, Succession, The Pitt, Sinners, One Battle After Another... and then there's the Harry Potter series coming next year, which has been hailed the televisual event of the decade.

HBO Max will also be the new home of TNT Sports. Remember, this was previously BT Sport before the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

And therein lies the issue. The world of streaming is so complicated, with mergers and acquisitions happening all the time, prompting name changes and constantly moving goal posts leading to multiple subscription options. HBO Max isn't helping, with another subscription to pay for and more decisions to make.

Here's everything you need to know.

What is HBO Max?

It's the streaming home of HBO, the US channel known for its marquee TV content such as Game Of Thrones, The Sopranos, Succession, Boardwalk Empire and so on.

HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, and so screens films from Warner Bros Studios and DC Entertainment – the likes of Sinners, One Battle After Another, The Batman and Joker.

Isn't it just called Max?

Not any more. That was a rebranding exercise that didn't last.

What are the subscription options for HBO Max?

This is where it gets complicated. HBO Max offers five different options (four if you don't count TNT Sports). Here they are.

• Basic with Ads (£4.99 per month): stream on two devices at once, limited to Full HD resolution. Doesn't include those movies that stream on HBO Max following a cinema release
• Standard with Ads (£5.99 per month): the same as Basic with Ads, but includes “all the best HBO Max shows and movies” and gives you 30 downloads a month for offline viewing
• Standard (£9.99 per month): the same as Standard with Ads but without the adverts
• Premium (£14.99 per month): this ups the quality to 4K with Dolby Atmos (where available), lets you stream on four devices at once and gives you 100 downloads a month
• TNT Sports (£30.99 per month): this brings all manner of live sports such as 185 UEFA Champions League matches and every game in the Europa League and Conference League, plus some Premier League matches and tennis. This is in 4K and Dolby Atmos, and lets you stream on two devices at once

That's a lot to take in. As with Netflix and Prime Video, the cheapest tiers come with ads; but with HBO Max, the very cheapest tier doesn't even have all the content. The Basic with Ads tier omits movies that make it to the cinema before streaming on HBO Max. Which would include the big hitters from Warner Bros. and the DC universe.

The next tier up does include that content, but still has ads, and doesn't include 4K. To get rid of ads, you need the third tier up.

But if you want 4K visuals and Dolby Atmos audio (and you're reading this on whathifi.com, so it's quite likely that you do) you have to pony up £15 a month – that's £10 more than the cheapest tier. Which seems a bit of a cheek in this day and age. We long for the day when 4K/Atmos comes as standard.

So beware. Read the tiers carefully to make sure you know what you’re paying for. Otherwise you could be left without the movie you wanted, watching ads, and only in HD. And no one wants that.

Isn't there a simpler option?

There is. Sky is upgrading its Ultimate package to include HBO Max, Disney Plus and Hayu (alongside the existing Netflix and Sky content). That means you can get a lot of streaming options for one monthly payment, rather than juggling lots of separate subscriptions.

Sky Ultimate will cost £24 a month. Considering you would pay just shy of £23 for the various streaming services excluding the Sky content, that's not a bad deal. But again, there's a downside.

On this plan, the Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max subscriptions are the base, ad-supported tiers. So as well as suffering adverts, you'll have to forego 4K, HDR and Dolby Atmos.

What's happening to HBO content on Sky?

Sky's announcement gets it out of a tricky fix. If you take Sky but don't subscribe to HBO Max, you'll still be able to watch existing HBO content that's already available on Sky, as well as any new series of said content – so the fourth series of The White Lotus should be available to Sky customers, for example.

But you won't get any new HBO series that launch, such as the Harry Potter epic that's due to start in 2027. You'll also miss out on the films that come to HBO Max. For those, you will need a subscription to HBO Max.

See? We told you it was complicated.

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