Apple Event Set for March 25
Apple has scheduled a “special event” for 10 AM PST on Monday, March 25, posting the event notification to their website, and inviting select members of the press to attend.
The tagline accompanying the event press invitation proclaims “It’s show time”, which some are speculating pertains to a rumored video service from the company that could debut at the event.
According to Bloomberg, Apple will unveil “an original video programming service and a new premium magazine subscription plan” that aims to compete with services like Netflix and Amazon Video.
Though it may sound like a departure from products like the iPhone, Mac, and iPad, it turns out that Apple is already in the video content production business with shows like “Carpool Karaoke”, which features celebrities singing in a car as they drive around together, and “Planet of the Apps”, which features people showing off iOS apps under development to a handful of celebrities to be judged. It’s conceivable that a rumored video service might offer similar types of video content, likely for a monthly service fee similar to Apple Music.
Bloomberg previously reported that Apple is inviting various Hollywood celebrities to the March 25 event.
On a software note, it’s fairly likely that the final versions of iOS 12.2 and MacOS Mojave 10.14.4 will debut at or near the same event as well, both of which are currently in beta development with beta 5 of both being released today.
Separately, rumors have floated for a while that a variety of Apple hardware products will be getting updates sometimes in the near future, including rumored spec bump updates to the entry level base iPad model, along with possible updates to the iPad mini, iPod touch, and AirPods.
As with all rumors, it’s best to consider everything speculation until something is officially announced from Apple, but enjoy the rumor mongering for the time being.
Anyone interested in watching the special event can watch it live on apple.com/apple-events/ at 10:00 AM PDT on March 25.
The official press invitation is embedded below for those interested in seeing it, courtesy of @panzer on Twitter:
Please join us for an Apple special event
at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.March 25, 2019
10:00 a.m.The email played a short film reel countdown animation on opening. pic.twitter.com/a2COFjMIpA
— Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) March 11, 2019
Also new Digitimes supply chain rumor today says AirPods 2 and new iPad starting production soon and “Apple is expected to introduce its new-generation iPad and AirPods series at an event on March 25, the sources said.”
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20190313PD206.html
I’ll keep my iphone SE until the iphone 8 is the entry level phone and get one of those before the next cycle makes them unavailable.
Apple seems to be under the impression that people will continue to spend big money on anything they slap their name on. They are in for some disapointing quartly results in the future. Bail now shareholders!
I read a report this morning saying iPhone sales are apparently way down according to research analysts, maybe that’s why they’re trying to become a recurring services revenue business?
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/iphone-trends-going-from-bad-to-worse-longbow-research-says#gs.0krj4e
As to why the iPhone is not selling as expected, I think maybe Apple executives forget the average person is not thrilled with the idea of spending $1200 or more on a phone every year or two, that is a tough sell. A $500 and $600 phone is a luxury item still but cost is more reasonable, but it can’t be a 3 year old model otherwise people will decide to get a brand new Android for the same price. Consumers who are buying a new phone every year or two are buying for ‘new’ as that is the name of consumerism for many shoppers, it’s a signal of conspicuous consumption as they say.
And the Mac has bad sales too apparently, which I think is directly related to the keyboard on the laptop, and the lack of updates for other Mac hardware. Update the hardware once a year, get a good keyboard, forget Touch Bar, allow people to service RAM/SSD in the pro line, include ports people need and use, and the Mac will sell again quite well. The pro market is the core of the Mac user base!
So back to Apple movies and TV programs. The problem with a company like Apple trying to do something very un-Apple as producing video content is that it’s never going to be a natural effort, it is not in their DNA to make a movie or TV program. They already had a big relationship with Disney and Pixar through Jobs and the Board of Directors, why didn’t they ask proven content masters like Disney and Pixar to do this instead? Apple is a technology company, and always has been, they make platforms to product things on and to work on, the best operating systems in the world for that task, and that matches well with their hardware and software. The ecosystem feels neglected but it’s all so fixable and obvious from the outside looking in, it makes you wonder what they think inside looking inside, or inside looking outside. They seem distracted, not sure where to go or what to work on, they seem to have forgotten their core user base, it’s all a bit puzzling.
“Apple executives forget the average person is not thrilled with the idea of spending $1200 or more on a phone every year or two, that is a tough sell”
They don’t forget that, they simply ignore it. According to Tim himself in an interview, they don’t consider their pricing too high based on the assumption that people will pay for the phone in interest free monthly installments ($40 a month is not much, he said). The problem is that such plans, offered by carriers, only exist in two or three countries such as the US or Australia, while in the rest of the world people do have to pay the price outright or in a few installments with a hefty interest rate.
In other words, Apple is being too US centric and not caring enough about their other markets.
Of all the things I want from Apple, a video service is nowhere on the list.
Hope they update iPad to work with new pencil though.
I was in the first round of Mac Pro 2013 purchasers. I’ve been more than patient waiting for a release date or preview of the new Mac Pro platform. Money ready to spend. If March 25 has any hardware announcements that do not include the new Mac Pro I’m building workstations myself again. Apple clearly does not consider workstation professionals a priority. Prove me wrong.
Right there with you. My AMD D700s are getting tired. But I’m going to give it until Christmas. Apple said “definitely 2019” so that should be it.
“Event?” Apple hasn’t had a worthy event since the introduction of the iphone in 2007. Since have only been who cares “events.”
Apple is producing TV shows now? Why? And for who?
Remember when Apple was a computer company? That was cool.
A few years ago I debated with colleagues who were abandoning the Mac platform for Dell and Lenovo after the MacBook Pro redesign and keyboard flop made the hardware unworkable in professional environments, and I insisted they knew what they were doing and would course correct. Well, I waited, the keyboard never changed. The redesign to fix the flop never materialized. Now Apple is working on TV shows. I guess I was wrong.
The new keyboard is truly lovely and the Touch Bar is a great addition. I can’t wait for Apple to launch its own live streaming service to complement iTunes. My friends switched from Lenovos and Dells to Mac (overwhelmingly for security, iCloud, and iPhone compatibility).