Roger Fingas
Apple is planning to hold a March 25 press event at the Steve Jobs Theater, located at Apple Park in Cupertino, a report claimed on Tuesday.
The event will be "services focused," the highlight being the debut of a paid Apple News subscription, BuzzFeed News said, citing multiple sources. That plan could be called Apple News Magazines, and grant people access to a variety of magazines and newspapers for $10 per month.
Likely missing from the event will be second-generation AirPods or a fifth-generation iPad mini, the report added. Apple has regularly introduced hardware at March events — earlier today, one questionable story suggested that the AirPods, a new Mini, and more could begin preorders on March 22.
The BuzzFeed sources declined to say anything about Apple's upcoming video streaming service. That service is due to launch in 2019 and has been rumored for the first half of the year, possibly in April if not March. Apple is spending over $1 billion on original shows, such as an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels.
One problem faced by Magazines is the company's deals with publishers. The company is allegedly demanding as much as 50 percent of subscription revenue, while simultaneously refusing to hand over more customer data. If terms can't be reached soon, Apple may be forced to push back an announcement.
Ultimately people are expected to have the option of an "Apple Prime" subscription, bundling Magazines, video, and Apple Music.
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36 Comments
iPad Mini 5, iPhone SE2, AirPods2, MacPro.
Or not.
$10/mo for this, $10/mo for that, $10/mo for Netflix, $10/mo for Hulu, $10/mo for Office 365, $10/mo for Adobe Creative Suite, $10/mo for Quicken, $10/mo for Apple Music, $10/mo for iCloud storage, $10/mo for Amazon Prime... Whew, let’s add things up. I read that Apple has been encouraging developers to move to a subscription business model as the way of the future. It’s all about having a reliable revenue stream I read. What about MY revenue stream, or lack thereof?
No on the video streaming service, not until Q3.
yes on new hardware, as the model numbers have already shown up in iOS...which hardware is the question. ...Mac Pro? That would be a surprise, however, nothing points to being near production, so probably not.
"Likely missing from the event will be second-generation AirPods or a fifth-generation iPad mini, the report added."
That still leaves the 7th generation iPad 9.7"
Note that the March 25 date is also unconfirmed, though likely based on past history. I think a lightly-updated non-pro iPad, the long-awaited AirPower and AirPod wireless case, and News subscriptions are likely, maybe even a nice iWork update if we’re lucky. AirPods 2 (electric boogaloo) maybe, but if I were Apple I’d build a frenzy on that for the late summer or fall.