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This morning's Apple Event opened with a Movie like trailer, done in the style of the old iPod ads,.
First up: Apple News+
Apple News+, which is folding the texture magazine service into a paid tier of Apple News at a cost of $9.99 per month with Family Sharing included.. Included in this is Magazines, which will bring 300 magazine titles to the end user. Features will include the ability to have specific magazines auto downloaded to your device so you have them available for offline reading.
The News+ tier will include digital subscriptions including the Los Angles Times and the Wall Street Journal. Privacy will be protected because there is no Advertising tracking and recommendations are done via downloading a selection of articles to the device and using an on device algorithm to figure out what to recommend.
Available today including access in Canada.
Up next: Apple Pay: 10 billion transactions surpassed is the target for 2019. 70% acceptance of Apple Pay in the US, and higher in other countries, with more that 40 countries estimated to have the service available. Transit has now been added to Apple Wallet in 3 cities in the United States.
Apple is now also going into the Credit Card game with Apple Card, a digital credit card that can be used globally and can be accessed via Apple devices. Customer service for Apple Card be accessed by sending a message through the messages app. Apple Card will give specific details as to locations of where transactions are made and will be color coded in a spending tracker feature.
Reward program is “Daily Cash” which will give the user cash back on a daily basis and added to the Apple Cash Card. Reward rate is 2% everywhere and 3% when purchases are with Apple. Payment schedules can be set to weekly or biweekly and the card has no fees.
The Credit Card is partnered with Goldman-Sachs and Master card. Transactions are protected using the on-device enclave chip and must be authenticated with either Touch ID or Face ID.
Apple has even created a physical card for when a person is somewhere that Apple Pay is not available, it’s made out of titanium with laser etching, no card number CVV, expiration date of signature is on the card but can be accessed via the app. Physical card transactions will give the user 1% daily cash back.
Up next: The App Store:
With over half a billion users per week, the largest category on the App Store is Gaming. Over 1 Billion people have downloaded games on the App Store.
Apple Arcade has been announced as a Mobile, Desktop and Living room subscription service. Over 100 games at launch with a monthly subscription cost not announced, but included Family Sharing. Games will play across Mac, iPad, iPhone and Apple TV and all games will be playable offline. No ads, no additional purchases for future content. All game tracking data is user opt in
Apple TV:
The TV app is getting a redesign, Movies are now built into for easy access from the TV app. Cable Bundles can now be accessed from the central location of the TV app and will allow users to use their Cable login to pay for what they want in a on demand, ad-free ,offline optional ,family sharing feature called TV Channels that will include HBO, Starz, epic and CBS All Access.
TV update will arrive in May, TV app is also coming to Mac OS and Samsung, LG and Vizio Smart TV’s and Roku and Amazon streaming sticks this fall.
Apple TV+ announced, Steven Spielberg is brought on stage to announce the creation of a series based off the magazine “Amazing Stories”. The Morning Show with Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell, is next announced as an exclusive to the TV+ service. Other shows include a Jason Mamoa backed show called See where a few million survivors of a devastated earth are all left blind due to a virus, a new show, produced with Sesame Workshop, called Helpers. Helpers is a preschool aged introduction to coding.
JJ Abrams and Sara Bareilles announce a new series called Little Voice, focusing on an upstart young musician in New York City. Oprah joins the platform with 3 new projects, including a series on depression and one that highlights her love of books through her book club.
TV+ will launch this fall with a subscription price to be announced through the Apple TV app.
MacOS and iOS updates are live today
