Apple Reportedly Planning New Nutrition and Payment Services Alongside Fitness+ Improvements
Apple is planning to introduce several improvements for Apple Fitness+ and Apple Pay this year, and has explored offering an all-new groceries service that integrates with the Health app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman outlined his expectations for new Apple services this year. Two finance-related Apple services are purportedly in development, including a hardware subscription program and a "buy now, pay later" service for Apple Pay transactions, designed to allow customers to pay for Apple Pay purchases in installments over time, rivalling existing services like Klarna.
Last month, Gurman explained that the hardware subscription program would allow customers to pay a monthly fee and gain access to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac for the duration of the subscription. Apple is said to be aiming to make the process of buying an iPhone or an iPad "on par" with purchasing iCloud storage or paying for an Apple Music subscription, with customers able to subscribe to hardware with their Apple ID and App Store account.
The service is rumored to be Apple's "biggest push yet" into recurring sales, and while it has been working on hardware subscriptions for months, it was apparently pushed back to focus on the "buy now, pay later" Apple Pay service. Gurman claims that Apple is working to implement hardware subscriptions by the end of 2022, but it potentially could be delayed to 2023 or canceled entirely.
Moreover, Apple is reportedly planning to add new workout types to Apple Fitness+ with iOS 16 later this year. In addition, Apple is said to have explored offering an "Instacart-like service that integrates with nutrition data in the Health app." Gurman noted that the service sounds potentially complex to implement and "fairly low-margin." He added that he is also hoping for substantial upgrades to Apple TV+ this year.
Expansion of Apple's range of services have been a topic of speculation for some analysts, with Loup Ventures suggesting that Apple could offer "Podcasts+," "Stocks+," "Mail+," and "Health+" in the future.
Popular Stories
Alleged photos and videos of an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 chip continue to surface on social media, in what could be the worst product leak for Apple since an employee accidentally left an iPhone 4 prototype at a bar in California in 2010. The latest video of what could be a next-generation MacBook Pro was shared on YouTube Shorts today by Russian channel Romancev768, just...
An alleged unboxing video for an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The video was later linked to on social media platform X by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. It is possible that this is the same MacBook Pro box shown in photos that were shared by leaker ShrimpApplePro in late September, as he claimed that this MacBook Pro...
Apple's new Vitals app for watchOS 11 appears to be impressing some users with its ability to detect potential illness days before symptoms manifest, according to recent reports on Reddit. The Apple Watch app, which analyzes key health metrics measured during sleep over the last seven days, appears to be providing early warnings of impending sickness for at least some Apple Watch wearers...
Rumors strongly suggest Apple will release the seventh-generation iPad mini in November, nearly three years after the last refresh. Here's a roundup of what we're expecting from the next version of Apple's small form factor tablet, based on the latest rumors and reports. Design and Display The new iPad mini is likely to retain its compact 8.3-inch display and overall design introduced with...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
We're nearing the end of the iOS 18.1 beta testing process, but Apple is continuing to make tweaks to refine built-in features ahead of when the software launches. With testing winding down, there are fewer new additions, but Apple has made changes worth noting. The new beta is available for both developers and public beta testers. Control Center In the Control Center, Apple has added new...
Apple will announce several new M4 Mac models around the end of October, with the company planning to launch at least some of them as soon as Friday, November 1, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple will launch a new M4 version of its low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, as well as higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models...
The current Apple TV was released two years ago this month, so you may be wondering when the next model will be released. Below, we recap rumors about a next-generation Apple TV. In January 2023, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that a new Apple TV was planned for release in the first half of 2024:Beyond the future smart displays and new speaker, Apple is working on revamping its TV box....
