On the 23rd day (of May), David Zaslav created Max. But how do we plebeian HBO Max subscribers get access to this brave new world?
It is still early days for the not quite merger between HBO Max and Discovery +; so early, in fact, that you could still briefly access the original HBO Max via your browser window during the wee hours of Max’s launch. But the old Max is now officially gone, so if you’re itching to watch the two decades of making the “Clone High” reboot or seeing Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes in “SmartLess: On the Road,” then you’ll have to accept the death of HBO Max and switch to the new service. Fortunately, this is easy enough to do.
To access Max’s website, just go to www.max.com. If you’re an existing HBO Max subscriber, click “sign in” in the upper right corner and use your email address and password for the old service to sign in to the new one. If you used a cable provider to access HBO Max, you can also select the coverage you have and enter your credentials for that subscription to access the new Max platform.
Your subscription details will carry 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 cost $15.99/month, and the advertising tier remains at $9.99/month. You can easily upgrade to the ad-free or non-previous ad-free tier, but your previous plan should stick around for about six months before you’re prompted to switch.
You may notice that some HBO Max features, including 4K HD streaming and Dolby Atmos audio, didn’t survive the transition. That’s because they’ve been made exclusive to the new $19.99 a month “Ultimate Ad-Free,” which also gives you the ability to download 100 titles for offline viewing and streaming on four devices simultaneously. So, it’s worth noting that while technically the price stays the same, if you want all the bells and whistles you’ve enjoyed using HBO Max, you’re facing another streaming price hike.
For people who use HBO Max through apps, accessing the new streamer is a little more confusing. Some devices will automatically update the app for you, including Amazon Fire TV, Cox TV, Roku, Vizio, and Xfinity. It’s possible it hasn’t been updated yet, in which case it’s probably slow but it will happen automatically. But for Apple, Android, DIRECTV, LG TV, Samsung TV and game console products, the HBO Max app will need to be updated until prompted to download a new Max app.
That said, once you get past the tricky transitioning thing, you’ll be ushered into Max’s world – finally being able to stream the “90 Day Fiancé” franchise to your heart’s content.
