Follow Benjamin on Threads to keep up with his latest projects. Benjamin blogs about Apple news and rumors and posts insightful product and app reviews. Read his work on 9to5Mac and his personal blog.
Benjamin Mayo also creates apps for iOS as a professional indie developer and contractor; more details here. Email to discuss making your iOS project.
Follow @bzamayo on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.
Apple Music has today officially announced a special promotional offer for new subscribers. For a limited time, new subscribers can get six months of Apple Music for just $2.99. That’s a big saving compared to the regular price of $10.99 per month.
Apple says the offer is available to new and eligible subscribers only. It’s unclear if it is exclusive to the United States, or also available in other regions.
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The new Replay playlist is now available on Apple Music. Users are noticing today that the Replay 2025 playlist is now showing up in their libraries.
Apple Music Replay continuously aggregates your top songs, albums, and artists. The playlist updates throughout the year, culminating in a full-year-in-review feature in December.
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In perhaps yet another sign of the growing reach of Apple TV+ content, the sci-fi series Silo has ranked on the Nielsen U.S. streaming originals chart for the first time ever. The show ranked 9th with 417 million minutes viewed, for the week of December 30 through January 5.
This is one in just a handful of appearances of an Apple TV+ title on this chart. Typically, Apple shows are not popular enough to make it onto the Top 10 list of streaming originals, according to Nielsen’s numbers anyway.
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It feels like Apple TV+ is gaining ground in the public consciousness, with dramas like Severance, Silo, and Slow Horses, breaking through.
The availability of the Apple TV app is one reason why more people are finding Apple’s shows, now available on games consoles, cable boxes and more. Unfortunately, there is still no Apple TV+ app for Android phones and TVs. Despite that, here’s the best ways to watch Apple TV+ on Android.
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Apple today unveiled its plans for the upcoming 2025 Major League Soccer season, through its MLS Season Pass service. The subscription provides worldwide unrestricted access to all MLS games, with no blackouts. The 2025 season officially kicks off on February 22, but you can subscribe now to see preseason games including LAFC vs Liga MX on February 11, and Inter Miami vs Orlando City on February 14.
This season, there’s a new featured game fixture on Sunday nights branded as ‘Sunday Night Soccer’. Sunday Night Soccer games will also be available to stream for free for all Apple TV+ subscribers.
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Video game studio comedy Mythic Quest returns today for season four on Apple TV+. The comedy features Rob McElhenney as Ian, a maverick game producer, and his surrounding team as they struggle to stay relevant in the modern gaming market.
Mythic Quest first premiered in February 2020, making it Apple’s longest-running comedy. Although there is no confirmation yet of a season five renewal, the service is about to launch a spin-off series — and has begun running trailers.
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As of now, the Chinese-based TikTok app remains unavailable in the United States App Store on iPhone, as the company failed to sell itself to a US owner, before last week’s ban came into effect.
However, there is apparently ongoing negotiations to get TikTok under new ownership, which would give it a path back to the App Store. No deal is close to being finalized, yet, though.
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Apple has officially agreed to content quota obligations as set out in a 2021 France decree, via Deadline, which means it must invest 20% of Apple TV+ revenues in France to create French and European content.
This effectively commits Apple to create French originals for Apple TV+ on an ongoing basis. Recent French-language releases on the service include La Maison and Drops of God; the latter of which was a hit for TV+ and is returning for a second season.
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The UK government today announced that the Competition and Markets Authority has launched strategic market status investigations into mobile ecosystems, specifically the App Store models of iPhone and Android.
The report says it will assess Apple’s market power, and potential exploitative conduct. This includes options for app distribution to customers, and the terms app developers must agree to to be listed in the App Store in the first place.
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Following government regulatory changes, Apple has officially confirmed it will launch the new hearing aid features in the UK, for AirPods Pro 2 customers.
In a statement to The Telegraph, Apple said it will bring the hearing aid features to UK AirPods Pro users in the coming weeks, following changes to government policy.
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Severance premiered in February 2022, almost three years ago. With the season ending on an all-time cliffhanger, fans of the show have been eagerly waiting for more. However, the effect of Hollywood strikes and other factors delayed production significantly.
But today, Apple is finally ready to launch the second season of Severance on Apple TV+, with the first episode kicking off directly after the events of the finale, from the innie perspective at least.
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It may have been a minute since season one, but in that time, it seems Apple’s sci-fi drama Severance has really picked up steam in the wider public conscience, with Season 2 likely to be one of Apple’s most-watched series to date. If you haven’t seen the show yet, now’s a great time to catch up. Here’s how to watch Severance exclusively on Apple TV+.
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In a promotional push to boost interest for the upcoming second season, Apple has added all of Severance season one to the Roku Channel, for users to watch for free. The Roku Channel boasts more than 90 million users, making it one of the largest destinations of free streaming video content.
This marks the first time TV+ content has been made available on a free third-party streaming platform. The move shows just how committed Apple is to trying to expand engagement and viewership of its original content.
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The News app may finally be expanding its international reach. Since 2019, the app has been exclusively available in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia.
More than five years on, according to the Financial Times, Apple is finally looking to add new supported countries. Apple monetizes News app through a combination of display advertising and the News+ premium subscription.
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With a free-for-all streaming promotion running this weekend, now is a great time to catch up on Apple TV+ content you may have missed from the past year.
Spanning new TV show seasons, limited series, movies and kids content, Apple released a total of 69 originals in 2024. Here’s a list of everything new you can stream right now …
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Apple Fitness+ today announced a slew of new content to kick off the year, as well as a new integration with the popular social fitness app Strava.
Fitness+ users will now be able to easily share their completed workout sessions to Strava, with rich details like episode image, music genre, and metrics. Strava subscribers will also be able to redeem a free trial of Fitness+.
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Apple has launched a rare Chinese New Year discount promotion in China, running from January 4 through January 7. This includes up to ~$70 savings on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, as well as discounts on other iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15, iPhone 14, MacBook Air, iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Pencil.
The atypical sales promotion on the latest iPhone 16 lineup arrives as investors question the stability of iPhone demand in the region. It may be interpreted as Apple feeling the pressure from domestic phone manufacturers like Huawei.
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After several days of teasers, Apple TV+ today confirmed that the streaming service will be free for all this weekend. Between January 4 and January 5, customers can stream all Apple Originals with no subscription required.
This free weekend promotion will help garner awareness for the service as we embark on the new year, with major launches like Severance season two starting later this month.
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The Meta Quest line of AR and VR headsets appear to be popular Christmas gifts this year, as the Meta Horizon companion soars to the top of the iPhone App Store in the US region, and around the world. The uplift in demand is likely driven by the release of the Meta Quest 3S, a cheap-but-capable $299 model.
The Amazon Alexa app also rose in the Top Free app charts, as Echo speakers continue to be popular gift ideas. AirPods and Apple Watch were also likely to be one of the most unwrapped gifts this Christmas, but the App Store does not give us any insights into the popularity of Apple’s own products …
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Update: AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation currently reduced to $169 on Amazon.
So, Apple just updated its base model AirPods for the first time in years. There’s now two new models, one with Active Noise Cancellation, and one without – starting at $129.
ANC was the hero exclusive feature of AirPods Pro … until today. So how do the new AirPods (not Pro) stack up? Here’s all the differences.
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With Christmas now just days away, it’s about time to ‘wrap up’ the holiday shopping season. Everyone is in the midst of hurrying to get their last minute gifts sorted. If you haven’t found something for someone special quite yet, here’s some iPhone-centric accessories and Apple gift ideas.
My recommendations are the Mujjo iPhone 16 leather case, SwitchBot Wallet Finder card, Belkin portable phone charger, a Continuity Camera mount, and the Apple TV 4K. More details about these picks after the break …
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Thanks to a usually-reliable tip off from iPhoneSoft, we may already know device compatibility for Apple’s next major operating system updates coming next year.
The report says that every iPhone model that currently supports iOS 18 will also support iOS 19, although like every year, some features may be limited to newer phones. Nevertheless, that means another year of support for iPhones as old as the iPhone XS and XR, first released in 2018.
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The Apple TV+ streaming hit Severance is now available on physical media: you can now buy Severance season one on Blu-Ray.
The physical release has arrived a month ahead of the season two premiere, so if you have friends who haven’t watched the show yet, this might be a great little last-minute gift idea to get them all caught up before season two kicks off on January 17.
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Apple has officially renewed its hit sci-fi drama Silo for season three and season four, which will conclude the adaptation of the story based on the popular book series by Hugh Howey.
The show is currently in the midst of airing its second season on Apple TV+, so the official renewal news will be warmly received by its fans. Unofficially, filming for the third season commenced earlier this month.
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