Benjamin Mayo, writing at 9to5Mac:
In a surprise announcement, Apple has announced its first bundle deal for Apple TV+. For subscribers to Apple Music on the student plan, $4.99 per month, Apple will giveaway Apple TV+ at no additional charge.
The news was announced on Hailee Steinfeld’s Instagram page, who stars in Dickinson. Apple TV+ launches this Friday.
Apple has announced new noise canceling AirPods.
Active Noise Cancellation on AirPods Pro uses two microphones combined with advanced software to continuously adapt to each individual ear and headphone fit. This removes background noise to provide a uniquely customized, superior noise-canceling experience that allows a user to focus on what they’re listening to — whether it’s a favorite song or a phone conversation.
Apple Music is launching a new weekly show with Zane Lowe called New Music Daily. The full press release can be found below.
Read More “New Music Daily with Zane Lowe Launches Today on Apple Music’s Beats 1”
Zane Lowe talked with Wired about the future of Apple Music:
There’s also the matter of how livestreams fit into the picture. After events with Shawn Mendes, French rap group PNL and Tyler the Creator, who did a live performance of his album IGOR, streamed on Apple Music the night before it came out, Lowe says “live music is definitely on the horizon” for the service. It’s all part of the team’s bid to “eventise” – his word – album launches. In the case of Tyler the Creator, “fans can tune in, then after watching it maybe you go to the album.”
When it comes to someone like Billie Eilish, who now has her own Beats 1 show, the Apple Music team realised that their pre-adds, which allow users to register their interest in an album before it’s out, had made people more invested in her March 2019 album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Federico Viticci’s incredibly detailed review of iOS 13 was released today:
Amidst a deluge of new features and design updates, iOS 13, more than its predecessors, makes clear that Apple doesn’t consider iOS just an operating system anymore: it’s the platform upon which the company can build other experiences. In a way, the modern iOS is to Apple devices what Mac OS X was to the original iPhone: a stable technological foundation, ready to be taken in new directions.
No one is writing more in-depth and helpful reviews of iOS and iPadOS these days. And I don’t say that just because there’s some really good bookmarks and screen shots in the Safari section.
Apple’s September event is currently live. If you’re watching, come join is in the Apple thread.
Apple has launched a beta version of Apple Music for the web.
Taylor Swift and Apple officially announced “Music Lab: Remix Taylor Swift” where fans are invited to visit their local Apple Store and learn how to create their own unique remix of Taylor’s global hit, “You Need To Calm Down.” The full press release can be found below.
Sarah Perez, writing at TechCrunch:
Today, Apple announced that Shazam data will also now power a new Apple Music chart: the Shazam Discovery Top 50.
The chart will feature a weekly global ranking of the top 50 artists on the move and their trending track, based on Shazam data.
The first teaser for The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, and Reese Witherspoon has been released.
Billie Eilish and Apple today officially announced “Music Lab: Remix Billie Eilish” where fans can visit their local Apple Store and learn how to create their own remix of Eilish’s “You Should See Me in a Crown.”
Jony Ive, the famous designer at Apple, is leaving the company after thirty years. I thought Gruber’s take on the whole thing was pretty good:
Third: This may be good news. Ive is, to state the obvious, preternaturally talented. But in the post-Jobs era, with all of Apple design, hardware and software, under his control, we’ve seen the software design decline and the hardware go wonky. I don’t know the inside story, but it certainly seems like a good bet that MacBook keyboard fiasco we’re still in the midst of is the direct result of Jony Ive’s obsession with device thinness and minimalism. Today’s MacBooks are worse computers but more beautiful devices than the ones they replaced. Is that directly attributable to Jony Ive? With these keyboards in particular, I believe the answer is yes.
Some more information has been uncovered about the upcoming iTunes changes answering some of the questions people had.
The Music app is basically iTunes—but with a design update that puts Apple Music at the fore. You can still see your entire music library, of course, and even buy music on the iTunes Store if you want to. As someone who uses iTunes with Apple Music every day, I’m okay with this change. And if you click on the Songs view in the Library section of the sidebar, you will get your classic iTunes song list back, like it never left.
Apple told Ars Technica that on Windows, there will be no changes. Those who use iTunes on a PC to manage their devices, listen to music, and make iTunes purchases will be able to continue to do so.
What about the syncing features of iTunes? macOS Catalina builds them into the Finder. Attach an iOS device to a Mac and it appears in a Finder window’s sidebar. Select it and what looks like the standard iTunes sync settings screen appears in the window. You won’t get syncing or management of iOS apps, but you’ll be able to back up, update, and restore devices from the Mac.
Today was Apple’s WWDC keynote, and it was jam packed with stuff, but the most relevant to this website is probably the breakup of iTunes into new separate Podcasts, TV, and Music apps. The Verge has a good rundown:
The update will come with macOS 10.15. The shift makes sense, and has already taken place on iOS. Apple Podcasts, for example, has been on iPhones and iPads for years, but never made its way over to macOS devices. iTunes itself is a relic of a different era in which people bought all their music and movies in one place, and it’s felt neglected and outdated for quite some time.
It’s been a long time coming; I’m looking forward to the new Apple Music app.
Come discuss the Apple Keynote in our official Apple thread today at 10:00am PDT.