Apple’s Special Event March 25th, 2019

Updated July 19th, 2019.

Update: the show is over. You can watch a replay of the whole thing– one hour, 50 minutes– on Apple’s site. You can see a condensed version– six minutes!– at MacRumors.com. Thanks, MacRumors!

Check out my summary of the event at the bottom of this article.

Apple’s going to show something at 10 AM Pacific time on Monday March 25th, 2019. I’ve read a lot of rumors about this event but as usual the people who really know what’s going to happen aren’t allowed to talk. So I wait, same as you, for 10 AM to roll around.

Prediction: Tim Cook will come out and say “Good morning!” twice before saying anything else. Update: I was wrong. He actually said “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” and then “Good morning!”

Note: if you can’t watch the show at 10 AM Pacific time you can probably catch a replay. I say “probably” because Apple hasn’t promised it. Typically, however, Apple does make these presentations available, on demand, shortly after the show.

Apparently Apple thinks their audience knows how to watch because they didn’t mention how to do it. Maybe this stuff is getting so routine that everyone knows what to do. In case they don’t, here’s how to watch:

• Using the Apple Events app on your Apple TV
• On your Mac, using Safari or Chrome to go to www.apple.com
• One your iPad or iPhone, using Safari to go to www.apple.com
• At an Apple Store, on the big big big screen

Apple quietly updated a bunch of hardware last week. They improved performance in the MacBook Pro and the iMac, they released updated Apple AirPods, they introduced a new iPad Air. I think they wanted to get those announcements out of the way so they could focus on whatever the big news is on Monday. We will see.

As usual, I’ll provide a summary when the show is over. And here it is…

Summary

tv+

tv+ is not the Apple TV box that connects to your TV with an HDMI cable and puts it on the internet. That’s hardware. tv+ is a new streaming service, sending original content to your TV (via an Apple TV box), or to your iPad, or to your iPhone, or to your Mac. Think of it as a channel of original, Apple-produced content. You will watch it via the Apple TV app. It will cost something, but Apple hasn’t said how much yet.

Confused? No wonder: too many things called Apple TV! But, it’s not available until the Fall of 2019 anyway, so maybe Apple will clarify things later. Click for more about tv+.

Apple Card

This was, to me, the best thing Apple announced. The Apple Card is an Apple-branded credit card that works in conjunction with Apple Pay, secure as anything, with easy to understand reports, statements, alerts, and online support. Plus it gives you cash back. Plus there aren’t any fees. Plus you can use the cash back to pay down your balance. Plus plus plus.

I predict the Apple Card will do to the credit card industry what the iPhone did to the cellular phone industry: namely, force everyone else in the business to respond with a quality product rather than to continue with clumsy, unfriendly products and services designed with the seller, rather than the user, in mind. The Apple Card (Apple also calls it “Card”) will be available in the Summer of 2019.

News+

Apple really, really wants you to get your newspapers and magazines on your iPad. For $9.99 per month you get a whole bunch of reading material, including the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal (not all of it, but at least some of it), TIME magazine, The New Yorker, Vogue, Bon Appétit, Sports Illustrated, Runner’s World, Outside, Travel + Leisure, People, National Geographic, and Scientific American. (For a complete list see Apple’s News+ page.) This service is live now.

Yes, there is already an “News” app, on iOS and on macOS. That one’s free. This one– that is, News+”– is not free. But you get a lot more. And it’s sharable with your family. And there’s a 1-month free trial. Check it out.

Arcade

Arcade is Apple’s new center for games, bringing over 100 video games to iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. You can start a game on one device and pick it up on another. You can play online and offline. Up to six family members have access. And there are no ads nor in-app purchases. All you do is pay one monthly fee for all-you-can-play games. We don’t know what the monthly fee will be yet but we will soon, as this service is coming in the Fall of 2019.

Get more info at Apple’s Arcade page.

Note: wondering how to type , the Apple logo? It’s easy– that’s Option-Shift-K. It doesn’t work in every font but it does in the ones Apple provides.

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