HBO Max Is Max Now: How Do I Subscribe?
On the 23rd day (of May), David Zaslav created Max. But how do us plebeian HBO Max subscribers access this brave new world?
It’s still early days for the not quite merger between HBO Max and Discovery+; so early in fact that that you could briefly still access the original HBO Max via your browser window during the first few hours of Max’s launch. But the old Max is now officially gone, so if you’re dying to watch the two decades in the making “Clone High” reboot or see Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes in “SmartLess: On the Road,” then you’re going to have to accept HBO Max’s passing and make the transition to the new service. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to do so.
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To access Max’s website, simply go to www.max.com. If you already subscribe to HBO Max, hit “sign in” on the top right hand corner, and use your email address and password for the old service to log into the new one. If you used a cable provider for HBO Max access, you can also select the coverage you have and enter your credentials for that subscription to get onto the new Max platform.
Your subscription details will be carried over, and the price will be the same. If you had an ad-free subscription on HBO Max, Max will say your subscription is “Legacy Ad-Free.” Both are $15.99 per/month, and the ad-tier remains at $9.99 per month. You can switch to the ad-tier or the non-legacy ad-free tier easily, but your legacy plan should remain for about six months before you’re required to make the switch.
You might notice that some features from HBO Max, including 4k HD streaming and Dolby Atmos audio, didn’t survive the transition. That’s because they’ve been made the exclusives of the new $19.99 per month “Ultimate Ad-Free,” which also gives you the ability to download 100 titles for offline viewing as well as stream on four devices at once. So, it’s worth noting that while technically the price remains the same, if you want all the bells and whistles you enjoyed using HBO Max, you’re facing yet another streaming price hike.
For people who use HBO Max via app, accessing the new streamer is a bit more confusing. Certain devices will automatically update the app for you, including Amazon Fire TVs, Cox TVs, Roku, Vizio, and Xfinity. There’s a chance it hasn’t updated yet, in which case it’s probably slow but will happen automatically. But for Apple products, Androids, DIRECTV, LG TV, Samsung TV, and gaming consoles, your HBO Max app will need to be refreshed until you get a prompt to download a new Max app.
All that said, once you get through the messy business of transition, you’ll be inducted into the world of Max: finally able to stream the “90 Day Fiancé” franchise to your heart’s content.
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