From Beats and Siri, to firms you've never heard of, Apple keeps buying companies. Here's what impact that has had on Apple, how long it takes for an acquisition to make its mark with a new Apple feature, and what may be coming next.
Apple paid at least $485 million to acquire Texture, the digital magazine subscription service it acquired in early 2018 and absorbed into Apple News, it has been alleged, with the size of the purchase indicating how much the iPhone maker valued the service's technology and potential.
Following the launch of its Apple News+ magazine subscription service, Apple is preparing to close down the standalone version of Texture for all users at the end of May, with the notice of closure urging customers to try out the new Apple News subscription instead.
If the date is correct, we're likely to have an event on March 25 that will see Apple launching two major services including a more coherent Apple News service with magazines and other publications, plus the debut of Apple's streaming video service — but what about hardware?
Apple is reportedly aiming to relaunch Texture as a premium subscription option within Apple News, possibly as soon this spring, but is encountering stiff reactions from publishers.
Following rumors that Apple is looking to enter the magazine distribution business with its own curated subscription service, a report on Friday claims the company is in talks with daily news giants to add their content into the mix.
At Austin's SXSW festival in March, Apple announced the takeover of Texture, one of the preeminent magazine subscription services. It's hardly the only digital magazine service available though, so here's how some of the current options of Kindle Unlimited, Texture, Zinio, Magzter, and Readly stack up.
In what may be a signal from its new ownership, Apple is shutting down the Windows client for magazine service Texture after June 30.
Rumors suggest that Apple may be looking to boost Apple News content with a purchase of magazine publisher Conde Nast, the owner of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Wired.
As part of folding the Texture "Netflix for magazines" service into its own products, Apple appears poised to fire up a premium subscription offering integrating curated news to continue to grow services revenue.
Texture allows access to dozens of magazines for a monthly price of $9.99 — and it is now in Apple's hands.
Apple hasn't traditionally had a great deal of participation in the annual South by Southwest festival, but Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue sat for an on-stage interview at the event.
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