Apple Again Rumored to Announce New Podcast Subscription Service At ‘Spring Loaded’ Event Later Today

We're just hours away from Apple's first event of the year, and alongside widely reported updates to the iPad Pro and possibly the reveal of other new products, Apple will announce a new paid podcast subscription service, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apple Podcast Alternate
According to the Journal, this new service will be built into the Apple Podcasts app and will "allow listeners to compensate hosts directly." Yesterday, Vox's Peter Kafka tweeted that he is "pretty sure Apple is prepping its own podcast plan - a paid subscription service - on Tuesday."

Neither Kafka nor today's new report offers any new concrete insight into the pricing of this new service and its specific breakdown. While it may come as a surprise, news of an Apple podcast subscription service is not entirely new. Bloomberg and The Information have both independently reported that Apple is in talks with production companies to produce new original shows for the service.

Even without the new service, Apple has launched several original podcast shows based on content from Apple TV+, such as "The Line." Further corroborating rumors of a paid service, changes found within the Podcasts app on iOS 14.5 by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser indicate that Apple is reworking the app with more subscription-centric features.

Apple's "Spring Loaded" event will officially kick off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time via a live stream on Apple's website and YouTube channel. If you're unable to watch the live stream, you can follow along for full coverage of all of the announcements from the event on MacRumors.Com or follow us on Twitter at MacRumorsLive for our live tweet coverage.

Tag: Podcast

Top Rated Comments

BvizioN Avatar
34 months ago
Dear god, how boring it is gonna be hearing about this at the event.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Corsig Avatar
34 months ago
Looking forward to Apple calling+ where you pay a subscription to make calls using your phone with special features like reaching the intended party or music playing while you wait for them to answer
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IslandLife Avatar
34 months ago

Does that mean I have to pay money for free podcast now?
Only if you want Apple’s “curated” (i.e. censored) content.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randolorian Avatar
34 months ago
No more subscriptions, please.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
qoop Avatar
34 months ago
If Apple's event had a live audience, they'd whoop and cheer about this — like their lives depended on it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
widestload Avatar
34 months ago
If so, hopefully it gets added at no extra cost for those of us with an existing Apple One subscription
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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