An Apple event is coming in March—but don’t expect new hardware. According to BuzzFeed, the event will rather unveil the iPhone maker’s rumoured news subscription service:
Apple has settled on a date for its first big product announcement of 2019. Sources tell BuzzFeed News that the company plans to hold a special event on March 25 at the Steve Jobs Theater on its Apple Park campus. Headlining the gathering: That subscription news service that has been all over the news today. Unlikely to make an appearance: next generation AirPods, or that rumored new iPad Mini.
According to an earlier report by the WSJ today, Apple wants a 50% cut of the cost of news subscriptions, as the service is seen as a “Netflix for news,” offering unlimited content for a monthly fee, as part of a premium tier in Apple News.
Sources claim the service would cost $10 USD per month, with half going to Apple and the rest going to participating publishers—based on the amount of time users spend reading articles. Apple would also not provide customer data to publishers, including credit card info and email addresses.
Last year, Apple acquired magazine service Texture, which was partially owned by Rogers Media. It was previously reported by Bloomberg the magazine service would be part of Apple News and its upcoming subscription model.
When iOS 12.2 releases to the public, it will include Apple News for Canadian users, with five initial publications: CBC, Radio Canada, La Presse, CTV News and the Toronto Star.
While an Apple event for March is coming, BuzzFeed’s “sources” cite no hardware is coming, so don’t expect new AirPods or a new iPad mini to emerge.
