Following the recent announcement of new iPads, iMacs and AirPods, Apple used this week’s ‘Show Time’ event to announce a whole host of new service products, including Cupertino’s long-anticipated new TV subscription service. Here’s the full lowdown on everything announced at this week’s Apple event.
1. Apple TV+
Designed to take on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ is a new ad-free video subscription service that will offer a whole host of original shows from famous names including Oprah, Steve Carell and Stephen Spielberg, as well as paid add-on subscription services from the likes of HBO, Showtime and Stars.
Competition in the streaming market is tough, but Apple is hoping the array of exclusive new content on offer through the service will be enough to tempt consumers. Launching in the UK this Autumn, the new app will sit alongside the existing Apple TV streaming box and will be available for iOS, Mac and Apple TV devices, along with numerous Smart TVs from Samsung, Sony, LG and Vizio. It is also expected the app will be available for Amazon’s Fire TV and Roku streaming devices. UK pricing has yet to be announced, but many expect the firm to offer aggressive pricing in a bid to encourage take-up of the new service.
2. Apple News+
Apple also revealed that Apple News is getting an overhaul, including a new premium news subscription service called Apple News+. Priced at $9.99 (around £7.50) a month, subscribers will get access to more than 300 magazines and content from selected premium newspapers. The service is already available in the US and Canada, but UK users will have to wait until the Autumn.
3. Apple Arcade
From Fortnite to Candy Crush Saga, the iPhone is already home to some of the most popular games on the planet, but now the US tech giant is hoping to further capitalise on the mobile gaming market with the launch of its new gaming service, Apple Arcade. Available for iOS, macOS and tvOS, the service will offer gamers access to a collection of around 100 games for a currently unspecified monthly fee, including titles from independent game designers and the likes of Disney, LEGO and Konami. Apple Arcade will be released in Autumn 2019 to 150 regions around the world, with all games being downloadable to any device for offline play.
4. Apple Credit Card
In addition to the new entertainment offerings, the Cupertino firm also announced a new credit card, which has been developed in partnership with Goldman Sachs and MasterCard. Initially launching in the US this summer, the new Apple Card will be available as both a virtual credit card and physical card made of titanium, with a cashback incentive on every purchase and no late fees or annual fees. Rather uniquely, physical versions of the card will have no number, CVV or expiry date printed on them. Instead, merchants will be able to retrieve this information from the Wallet app via a one-time, dynamically generated security code.
Apple’s venture into more services gives them an opportunity to generate more revenue from subscriptions as hardware sales slow down, especially as we’re all holding onto our mobile phones a little bit longer now. Whether Apple can beat Netflix remains to be seen, but whatever the outcome, it’ll be good for us customers as it means more original content being produced!
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