Apple event - As it happened: Steven Spielberg among celebrities launching TV streaming, new credit card and magazine subscription services
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Apple has launched a whole host of new services, intended to make more money from the people who have already bought its products.
In what was hailed as one of the most significant Apple events in years, the company did not reveal new products or software but instead a range of premium services. Together, they represent new ways to pay for news subscriptions, TV and games – as well as a new way to pay for anything, with a brand new titanium credit card.
The highlight of the new announcements was Apple TV+, a new streaming service built to compete with offerings like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. During the event, it invited many of the world's biggest stars and directors on stage to talk about the new shows, on which Apple is thought to have spent billions of dollars.
But it said it would bring a similar, paid-for and ad-free subscription service, for news and for games. All will allow people to pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to that content.
Apple tried to link the various announcements together through references to its corporate principles: stressing a focus on privacy, quality, and the ways that the various products are built to work with the company's hardware and software.
But the different announcements were also linked together in the fact that few details were announced about any of them. Apple only revealed the cost and release date of one of the new products, and gave little information about how many of them will work.
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
Apple CEO Tim Cook takes to the stage of the Steve Jobs theatre, promsing the crowd a "very different kind of event".
He begins by explaining the "seamless integration" of hardware, software and services – something he says Apple does better than anyone else.
Siri, Apple Maps, Apple Pay, FaceTime, Apple Music, Apple News... Cook reels off the extensive list of services Apple already offers.
Already the topic of privacy comes up, with Cook saying all these services are designed to "keep your personal information private and secure". This is greeted by the biggest applause yet from the crowd.
We're going to get to the widely-rumoured news subscription service first. Apple News is now the number one news app, Cook says.
"We're bringing magazines to Apple News," he says to more applause.
"All of these magazines come to life in an all-new service we call Apple News+," Cook says.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments