Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre May Make First Official Appearance at Apple's WWDC
Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, who are expected to take on senior roles at Apple following the company's rumored acquisition of Beats Electronics, may make their first appearance at Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, which takes place in June.
Citing sources familiar with the Beats Electronics acquisition talks, Billboard suggests Apple may introduce the two new hires during the event, possibly announcing Iovine as the company's new music chief. Iovine's role may include overseeing Apple's music strategy, securing deals and maintaining relationships with music labels.
Apple is currently said to be in talks with Beats Electronics over a $3.2 billion acquisition that would see the company gaining the Beats headphone business, its music service, and its two co-founders, Iovine and Dre.
Apple's interest in the company is said to be centered around Iovine, who has deep ties to the music industry, but it also gives Apple a successful speaker and headphone accessory line along with an established streaming music service. According to a recent report from Reuters, Apple will likely keep the Beats brand as a separate entity, giving it a way to test a subscription music service without compromising its own iTunes store.
As noted by Billboard, Dr. Dre, aka Andre Young, has previously appeared at an Apple event, congratulating Steve Jobs on the launch of both the iPod and the iTunes Store via video. Iovine has also had an ongoing relationship with Apple, initially pitching Steve Jobs on a music service back in 2003 and speaking with Apple executives prior to the launch of Beats Music earlier this year.
The deal between Apple and Beats Electronics is expected to be announced soon, possibly as early as this week.
Popular Stories
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products.
Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released.
iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition.
The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027.
Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports.
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia.
Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production.
Apple supplier Foxconn has...
