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
39 months ago
Dear god, how boring it is gonna be hearing about this at the event.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Corsig Avatar
39 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
39 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
39 months ago
No more subscriptions, please.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
qoop Avatar
39 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
39 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)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store [Updated]

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, SEGA Genesis,...