Apple to Hold Subscription-Focused Media Event March 25, No AirPods or iPad Mini Announcement Expected

[Princejb134]

Interesting... so no new products until June WWDC and/or September’s iPhone event?

We’ll see. An event dedicated to um... A new news subscription service seems underwhelming.

Something no one asked for at that

 

[newyorksole]

Something no one asked for at that

Literally no one lmaooo.

 

[dannyyankou]

Really hoping for an increase/adjustment of iCloud tiers. Hopefully 200gb will be moved up to 500gb for the same price. Been the same way for a number of years now.

Definitely, especially with 4K at 60fps

 

[JLD94]

There sure have been a lot of ipad sales recently...up to $100 off for them not to be introducing anything new

 

[daveedjackson]

Sounds excessive for no products. And looking at past March events - it would break tradition if they were not announcing products.

 

[goobot]

More subscriptions? When will I need to have a subscription to be able to turn on my Mac each day?

The electricial company

 

[KadMac]

Apple:

"Thank you for coming everyone. So, you know your News app on all your Apple devices? Yeah, it now requires a subscription and only costs $10 a month. Never mind that you used to get this for free."

Audience:

"..."
*crickets chirping*

Apple:

"Alright. That's a wrap! Thanks for coming everyone."

 

[Mac 128]

Sounds excessive for no products. And looking at past March events - it would break tradition if they were not announcing products.

But then so does not breaking out their products during quarterly reports. Apple is shifting the focus, and don't want anything to take the spotlight off of it. But I agree, an iPad mini, or iPod Touch would be perfect companion devices to showcase with these new services. Especially since Apple intends to offer the new TV service for free on Apple devices -- so those would make great halo devices to gain free access to some Apple services.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

So they're only doing news? No TV subscription service? No game subscriptions? No hardware? They usually don't do small events at SJ Theater. Not sure about this one.

Steve Jobs theatre held its first event which took place on September 12, 2017. So if there is some sort of pattern for what is and isn't done there I think it's a bit early to say.

 

[sinsin07]

Just read blurb by WSJ that it’s rumored A
Apple is looking for %50 percent cut.
Yikes.

 

[Freida]

if this is true then there must be a huge surprise as otherwise this event will take the crown for the most boring apple event ever

 

[Wags]

Wow. Now their subscription services is the next big thing. More confirmation iOS, devices and services is where they want to play.

 

[orbital~debris]

Ten dollars a month for news? That's not happening with me. I can't think of a valid reason to pay for what passes for news these days, that I currently get for free.

I suppose it really depends on what you class as ‘news’. I currently subscribe to the New York Times (app) and while I do read the articles on current news, a whole lot of value comes from articles, pieces, features etc. that aren’t strictly ‘news’ but are found in the deeper dive areas of the publication. I find there’s always something interesting to read about, and I learn about things I had little/no prior knowledge of.

If just thinking of ‘news’ as being whatever Trump did now, then yea - maybe not worth paying for…

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Apple has lost their mind. A 50% cut?

No thanks. I choose to support smaller publications/sites financially. I can get everything else I need for free.

 

[jgbr]

too many subscriptions and micro transactions now a days. It's saturated.

 

[pat500000]

this is why rumours can be bad, they hype you for something that isnt true

Welcome to macfacts.

 

[Macaholic868]

Apple should price this no differently than an app in the App Store. They take a 30% cut and the rest goes to the content creators. Split the revenue between the news organizations according to the percentage of views. If I were a publisher I’d laugh at their offer of taking a 50% cut. At the end of the day it’s the content that will drive the revenue. Apple’s just providing a platform.

 

[BSben]

Yay, family/child friendly subscriptions, fantastic idea. I will give it a miss. Also dreading the family friendly subscription TV service. Tim, have a drink and do something naughty, then come back with some fresh ideas.

 

[supertomtom]

Hopefully this won’t be a US only subscription service.

With Apple focusing more and more on services like this, I hope they have a new global strategy to be able to launch these services within a smaller timeframe internationally.

 

[Naraxus]

This is event-worthy? El oh el

 

[Simmias]

The problem is that Apple wants to bundle a bunch of garbage MSM publications and position them as “trusted sources” that are worth paying for. Only half the country at best has any respect left for the MSM, and a much smaller fraction is willing to pay. Lack of quality content is the problem. Apple can’t save dying legacy media by packaging it into a shiny subscription bundle. They should be building a platform to enable independent journalism the way the App Store enabled independent developers.

 

[RevTEG]

I bet they will show iPad mini. That’s pretty logical: “Our news service is great. And what’s the best device to read those news? iPad. Introducing new iPad mini.”

Introducing iPad mini 5. The best step backwards since reverse was invented. You know your finger has missed that home button. Lol Here’s to hoping the new mini will be like the pros...

 

[canesalato]

yumm more service revenue for the next earning call!

 

[HiRez]

So I was browsing around the iTunes movie store last night and I saw something I'd never seen before on a few movies that I don't own: "Subscribe to Watch" (the movies I own just say "Play" as expected). I was curious about that and even moreso now that I read this. I have not heard of iTunes movies being included in any kind of subscription, so I wonder if that's part of coming (somewhat useless for me since I buy a lot of iTunes movies, coming up on 600 of them).

 

[RevTEG]

The form factors for the current iPad Mini and the base iPad are fine for the entry level market. iPad Mini needs a spec bump and Apple Pencil support right away. They could give the base iPad a refresh to A11 or A12 later in the year, maybe when the A13 chip is released with new devices in the Fall. Apple does not need a special media event for a refresh.

Touch ID is fine for most folks, and frankly, the bezels are handy. Most iPad users don't give a rip about promotion or laminated displays. They don't need quad speakers on their iPads, and they prefer to have a headphone jack. The A12Bionic is way more powerful than necessary for the most frequently used Apps.

It is really important that Apple keep these iPads affordable.....$329 is the sweat spot for the base iPad. Also, I would like to see Apple reduce the price of Apple Pencil 1 to $79.

I love forum post that use words like “most iPad users” followed by a list of do’s or don’ts as if they’ve done the research to prove their statement. When in reality the “most” may be “many” or “some” at best. I can’t personal speak for most iPad users but as for me, I have no plan in going backward in technology even if I didn’t need it to begin with. Now that I have it, I enjoy it.