Yesterday Apple announced new services for iOS users. Most are paid subscriptions. Below is a brief overview of what was announced. As more information is available I will write more comprehensive analyses for each service.

Apple News +

In addition to a redesigned news experience, Apple News+ gives subscribers unlimited access to over 300 digital magazines for $9.99 a month. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Apple acquired a similar service called Texture in 2018. With this announcement we see Apple’s vision of that service. Apple News+ is available today to users in the US, UK, and Canada. To find it, update your iOS device to 12.2, and you will see it as a new menu item in the news app. It will also be available in the News App on MacOS after an App Store update. Learn how to check for updates <here> and how to see what version of iOS your device currently has <here>.

Apple Card

Apple Card is a credit card Apple announced in a partnership with Goldman Sachs and MasterCard. Apple is promising no annual fees or late fees and one of the lowest interest rates in the industry. Fine print on Apple’s site discloses the interest rate to be between 13.24% to 24.24% based on ‘creditworthiness’. The card offers rewards such as automatic 3% cash back on Apple products and services, 2% cash back on all other purchases made using the card through Apple Pay, and 1% cash back if you use the physical card. Apple’s presentation suggested the physical card was more of a backup until all places accept tap-to-pay. Additionally, Apple designed a new dashboard in the wallet app so you can see more information on your balance, transactions, rewards, and other financial information related to the card, similar to what products like Mint offer today. Apple Card will be available this summer.

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade is a monthly game subscription for iOS, giving subscribers access to hundreds of curated games without in-app purchases. The idea, as described by Apple, is to help support game makers to develop games that might not be able to rely on in-app purchases or one-time payments to recoup costs. No release date or pricing was announced.

Apple TV+

Coming this fall, Apple has teamed up with well-known movie and TV creators such as Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, along with many other recognizable faces, to create original programming the same way Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and HBO do. Information on the offering was light, but you can check out the preview video above. Apple TV+ content will be exclusive to the redesigned Apple TV app. In addition to Apple’s own devices, a version of this new app is coming to major television manufacturers like Samsung, LG, VIZIO and Sony as well as 3rd party streaming boxes like Roku and Amazon’s fire TV.