So Apple’s latest event has come and gone. Unsurprisingly no new hardware was released with Apple deciding to side on the software and services side. Out of the keynote Apple released four new services with some being more ambitious than others. Those being: Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade. However, Apple Card is currently not available in Canada so I won’t touch on it in this post
Apple News+ is probably Apple’s safest announcement. It builds on the success of the current Apple News app, however for $12.99 a month customers are able to receive unadulterated access to some of the world’s top magazines such as Esquire, National Geographic and The Wall Street Journal. Moreover, magazines on Apple News+ can be downloaded offline and read whenever desired.
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Apple’s second announcement was Apple TV+. Apple TV+ is supposed to be Apple’s competitor with the immensely popular Netflix. The main premise of Apple TV+ is that television and film giants from a variety of different genres will produce original content exclusive to only Apple TV+. Notable names include Oprah Winfrey, Brie Larson and Steven Spielberg
The final announcement to the subscription-based lineup is Apple’s announcement of the Apple Arcade. Many analysts project Apple Arcade as the most unpredictable in the group of announcements, with the success of the platform being uncertain. For a fee which has not been confirmed, users can access over 100 games which are not available anywhere else.
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Overall the Apple keynote brought some new subscription services to the market, for better or worse, only time will tell.