Over 200,000 People Subscribed to Apple News+ in First 48 Hours After Launch

Upwards of 200,000 iPhone, iPad, and Mac users signed up for an Apple News+ subscription following the service's March 25 launch, reports The New York Times.

The number comes from two unnamed sources who provided the figures to The New York Times and asked not to be named.

applenewsmymagazines
That's more than Texture, the service ‌Apple News‌+ was based on, had during its peak. Apple purchased Texture in 2018 and is shutting it down at the end of May now that ‌Apple News‌+ has launched.

‌Apple News‌+ provides access to more than 200 magazines as well as paywalled news from The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and a few other news publications.

Apple is going to be charging $9.99 per month for ‌Apple News‌+, but those who subscribed following the event have a 30-day free trial. There are still more than three weeks before customers will be charged, and many may be planning to cancel ahead of when the trial expires.

It's still not clear how popular ‌Apple News‌+ will be once that trial period runs out, but many magazines are hoping for the best. Pamela Wassserstein, CEO of New York Media, said that she felt ‌Apple News‌+ would allow New York magazine, The Cut, and Vulture to reach a "new audience" in an environment that "feels right."

Apple takes 50 percent of the subscription price from ‌Apple News‌+, and will be providing the rest to its publishing partners. Media companies will receive an amount based on the amount of time readers are devoting to their content.

This revenue split has been controversial and while many magazines have signed up because Texture worked in a similar way, Apple has been unable to woo major newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...

Top Rated Comments

nojkepop Avatar
82 months ago
Subscribed to a trial.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tgwaste Avatar
82 months ago
Thats cause its free.. Soon as my trial is up im out, its useless.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
82 months ago
Clearly “a flop”. :rolleyes:

...
...
...

While it lacks the kind of polish I’d expect from Apple, the value is undeniable and it’s already become a part of my routine. Rather than browse for news on multiple sites, I pull up Apple News periodically and see what’s new from all my favourite sources in that one spot. The notifications on my Apple Watch are pretty great too.

I’ve also spent a lot time browsing through magazines like I would a paper mag, page by page, appreciating the graphic layout and even the ads (magazine advertising is truly an art form). I really think that Apple has a chance to revolutionize how we consume digital “print” publishing.

The app needs some work, however. Apple News+ feels bolted on, disconnected from the rest of the app. Certain important features are missing like saving a magazine article to read later like can be done in articles elsewhere in the app. There are also a bunch of bugs with downloaded magazines disappearing and not showing in “My Magazines” unless I actually start reading it.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
atikalz Avatar
82 months ago
For a free trial not really impressing. And from this userbase lets see how many will use it after the 30-day-trail for real money. My guess: Not many. This outdated product and the boring apple TV+ will be a fail for apple. At least granny Cook had some amazing fun at the press conference in his newsstand.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tgwaste Avatar
82 months ago
How is access to 300 magazines for $10pm ‘useless’? It might not be well suited to you, but I can’t fathom how you consider it useless?
For the same reason I cut cable TV with 150 USELESS channels.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ryanasimov Avatar
82 months ago
Just how many of those 200,000 choose to pay after the free trial ends is what actually counts, though. Apple is counting on a certain percentage to forget to cancel, so the number of paying customers won't be known for a while yet.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)