Buzzfeed and Bloomberg are reporting that Apple is due to hold their Spring Event for 2019, which is one of their 4 traditional events each year, on March 25th 2019 at the Steve Jobs Theater on its Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.

The event is apparently due to be focussed on ‘Subscription Services’. From what we understand from the reports from Bloomberg and Buzzfeed the event is rumoured to cover 2 subscription services announcements.

Apple Video Subscription Service

As we revealed in our CES 2019 report where Apple announced that Apple TV would be coming to Samsung Smart TVs with a new, dedicated app for iTunes, which will give access to users' movies and TV shows that they have purchased through Apple's service. The app will appear with the other apps in a carousel along with other services including Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video and will be able to play iTunes movies and TV shows, along with AirPlay 2 support.

This is very interesting news when you put it alongside the rumours of Apple’s plan to start a video subscription service in 2019 to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon that might even be free to users that own Apple hardware. Bloomberg are now reporting that this subscription service will be one of the new services that will be announced at the Apple Spring Event on March 25th. Bloomberg say…

“The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning a March 25 event to announce both services, according to people familiar with the plan. The iPhone maker invited Hollywood stars, including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner and director JJ Abrams, to attend, one of the people said.”

According to a report from The Information, Apple plans to launch its TV subscription service in the US first, with the service then being rolled out to more than 100 countries in the following months, although Apple have declined to comment about this. Details on pricing for the video service still remain unclear.

There have been reports that Apple has set a $1 billion budget for content acquisitions and programming for its original content, and is signing deals with the likes of Oprah Winfrey to do shows for its service as well as a deal with Sesame Workshop for children’s programming. We also understand that Apple will be rebooting the science-fiction anthology show Amazing Stories, as well as produce a space drama from Battlestar Galactica creator Ron Moore. Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, are rumoured to be starring in another Apple commissioned show, whilst it is been reported that J.J. Abrams is producing a TV series starring Jennifer Garner and that Apple is planning to create a series with La La Land director Damien Chazelle. All of this would point to Apple aiming to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon in the OTT market.

Apple News Subscription Service

Buzzfeed believe that this will be the core part of the Apple Spring Event this year. Back in April 2018, Bloomberg reported that Apple bought Texture, which enables users subscribe to more than 200 magazines for $9.99 a month. Apple then cut about 20 Texture staff soon after, according to one of the people.

Apple started by integrating Texture technology and the remaining Texture employees into its Apple News team with an upgraded Apple News app with the subscription due to be announced at the 2019 Apple Spring Event.

There are now reports from Bloomberg that Apple plans to claim half the proceeds of a $10 monthly subscription fee, with the other half with be split up amongst the participating publishers according to how many people read their stories. Apparently this model isn’t going down too well with publishers, in the words of one executive who is "pissed" at the terms, which they argue are not at all standard for these types of agreements. Again Apple have declined comment.

What Is Not Expected To Be Announced At The Apple Spring Event 2019

We do not expect to hear anything about the new Mac Pro 2019. Rumours suggest that is likely to be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2019) on June 3rd to 7th 2019.

Other rumours that Apple are planning to release an SE2 iPhone , a new iPad Mini, an updated MacBook and iMac are not expected to make an appearance at ths subscription focused Spring Event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California on March 25th 2019.

What Are Looking Forward To?

It would appear that Apple is currently focusing on building up content with its News and Video Subscription services as another source of income. Whereas the News Subscription Service would largely appear to be a syndication service providing a channel for existing publishers to present news content to Apple subscribers, the video subscription service is going to include a significant chunk of original Apple commissioned content designed to give Amazon and Netflix a run for their money. This can only be good news for the post-production sector worldwide as the growth of Amazon and Netflix is already having a positive impact on the post-production sector.

What would you like Apple to announce in the coming months? New phones, more mac hardware, more content or what? Do share your hopes and thoughts in the comments below.