The Los Angeles rail and bus transit system should allow iPhone-owning members of the public to use Apple Pay for fare payments before the year is out.
MacRumors can confirm that LA Metro, the transit agency that manages integration of the TAP card system in the Los Angeles Area, said it is working with Apple to support mobile payments for iPhones, with rollout scheduled for this fall. The information was obtained in a public information request under California law.
The support comes as part of a major update to the TAP system currently underway, which includes upgraded fare boxes across the transit system that will receive real-time data about fares purchased by the public online, a new TAP mobile app with TAP Wallet support to debut in late summer, and eventual support for Android phones with NFC, although the timeframe for the latter is unknown.
Apple Pay support would enable commuters to hold a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch near a TAP card reader to pay their fare on buses and at turnstiles in subway stations throughout the TAP system.
The process is similar to using Apple Pay for in-store payments. Depending on the iPhone, that means double-pressing the home button or side button, authenticating with Touch ID or Face ID, and holding the device near the card reader. Apple Watch payments are also activated by double-pressing the side button.
Los Angeles would join a handful of cities with transit systems that already support Apple Pay, including Chicago, Portland, and Salt Lake City in the United States, Beijing and Shanghai in China, and other global cities like London and Tokyo.
LA Metro's introduction of Apple Pay support is expected to increase public use of the transit system, which despite offering good accessibility, has seen its ridership figures wane in recent years.
A 2016 study by the University of Minnesota found the LA Metro to be the third most comprehensive system in the entire United States. However, in a metropolitan area of 13 million people, only about 360,000 people use rail on an average weekday, and just 855,000 ride the bus.
By contrast, in New York City, which has a population of around nine million, about five million people ride the subway on an average weekday.
Ahead of Chinese New Year, which falls on February 5, Apple has shared a new "Shot on iPhone" film created by Jia Zhangke.
Called, "The Bucket," the film was captured entirely on an iPhone XS, and it features a family wrapping up their Chinese New Year celebrations. A mother packs up goods for her son to take back to the city, equipping him with a heavy bucket to lug home.
The film uses iPhone techniques like slo-mo and Depth Control, with Apple uploading two additional behind-the-scenes tutorial style videos.
The full film shared by Apple features the ending line "The taste of home will always bring us back," while the other videos use the tagline "Capture the taste of home this Chinese New Year with iPhone."
Apple is hoping to encourage sales of the iPhone during Chinese New Year, a major holiday in China. Earlier this month, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone XR and other iPhones for its channel partners, allowing third-party vendors to purchase iPhones more cheaply to pass those savings on to customers.
Apple is planning to pay the photographers who win its "Shot on iPhone" photography contest, the company announced today in an updated press release.
Apple clarified its position on payment for the photographs following multiple complaints from artists that were highlighted earlier today by The Verge.
The "Shot on iPhone" contest was first announced on Tuesday, and at the time, Apple appeared to be offering no compensation to the photographers. Winners would be paid in exposure, with Apple planning to display winning photographs on social media and on billboards.
Photographers were understandably upset at a company the size of Apple asking for artistic work sans compensation.
"By submitting your photo, you grant Apple a royalty-free, world-wide, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use, modify, publish, display, distribute, create derivative works from and reproduce the photo (everywhere) Apple."
Tim Cook net worth $625M Apple market cap $730B https://t.co/Esyd1MBXf1
— Timothy J. Reynolds (@turnislefthome) January 23, 2019
Apple now says that all photographers who win the contest will receive an unspecified licensing fee for the use of their photos on billboards and other marketing channels. It was not previously clear if Apple had intended to pay licensing fees, as the prior language released by the company did not mention it.
Apple believes strongly that artists should be compensated for their work. Photographers who shoot the final 10 winning photos will receive a licensing fee for use of such photos on billboards and other Apple marketing channels.
The updated information is available in the press release announcing the contest and the PDF with the official rules.
Apple's "Shot on iPhone" contest kicked off on January 22 and will run through February 7 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. The contest will be judged by both professional photographers and a selection of Apple employees with photography expertise.
Apple shipped an estimated 34.2 million iPhones in China in 2018, down from 36.7 million in 2017, according to new data shared today by Strategy Analytics.
During the fourth calendar quarter of 2018 (Apple's first fiscal quarter), Apple shipped 10.9 million iPhones, down from 14 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Apple surpassed Xiaomi to become the number four smartphone vendor in the country, but its iPhone sales fell short of Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo, all Chinese companies that make more affordable smartphones.
For 2018 in total, Apple came in fifth in China, trailing behind the four major Chinese smartphone vendors. Huawei was the number one vendor in China, shipping an estimated 105.1 million smartphones during the year. OPPO shipped 82.8 million, Vivo shipped 79.3 million, and Xiaomi shipped 50 million.
Apple lost market share in the fourth quarter of 2018, but gained ground overall in 2018. Apple held 10.1 percent of the smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2018, down from 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. Apple's total 2018 marketshare was 8.4 percent, up from 8 percent.
Despite the slight year-over-year jump, Apple trails all major Chinese smartphone vendors in the country when it comes to market share, including Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi.
Fourth quarter smartphone shipments in China declined by 11 percent annually, with a total of 107.9 million units shipped by all vendors. That's down from 121.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. Smartphone shipments also fell 11 percent annually, with 408.5 million smartphones shipped in China in 2018 down from 459.6 million in 2017.
Overall smartphone shipments have declined for five consecutive quarters in China, which has heavily impacted Apple. Apple recently downgraded its guidance for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 (which is the fourth calendar quarter), blaming the move on poor iPhone sales, primarily in China.
Strategy Analytics Director Linda Sui said that the holiday quarter was Apple's worst performance since early 2017. Apple's iPhone shipments have dropped on a year-over-year basis in China for 8 of the last 12 quarters.
Apple has been under pressure in China for the past three years. Ongoing patent battles with Qualcomm are a distraction, while Apple is being heavily criticized for its expensive retail prices. Apple is in danger of pricing the iPhone out of China."
To boost sales in China, Apple has cut the prices of its iPhones for third-party distributors in China, allowing distributors to provide iPhones at lower prices for Chinese customers. The biggest discounts have been on the iPhone XR.
Apple's lowered pricing comes just ahead of the Chinese New Year in February, with Apple hoping the discounts will lure shoppers into purchasing a new iPhone during the holiday.
The iOS 12.2 beta, which was seeded to developers this morning, includes a hidden setup screen that confirms Apple's work on a new version of the AirPods with a "Hey Siri" feature.
The new setup screen, which was uncovered by 9to5Mac, indicates AirPods users will be able to activate Siri with a "Hey Siri" command. The currently available AirPods do not support "Hey Siri" functionality, and rumors have suggested Apple is working on a second-generation version.
When the second-generation AirPods are available, users will be asked to set up the "Hey Siri" feature when pairing the AirPods to an iOS device for the first time. With "Hey Siri" activated, AirPods users will be able to ask Siri questions without the need to tap on the earphones.
Rumors of second-generation AirPods have been circulating for some time, and "Hey Siri" functionality has been an expected feature. Apple itself showed off "Hey Siri" capabilities on the AirPods during the introduction to its September 2018 keynote event introducing new iPhones.
The inclusion of the "Hey Siri" setup menu in iOS 12.2 perhaps suggests that we're nearing the release of second-generation AirPods.
We've also been expecting second-generation AirPods to feature a wireless charging case to be used with the AirPower, and the delay of the AirPower has presumably led to the delay of the new AirPods. It's not clear if Apple is planning to release an AirPods update without the AirPower, but in recent weeks, we've heard rumors suggesting the AirPower is finally being manufactured, which means we could see a release in the next few months.
Yesterday, a new AirPods rumor from DigiTimes suggested Apple would introduce next-generation AirPods with an unspecified "health monitoring" feature during the first half of 2019. Whatever health functionality DigiTimes is talking about could be included alongside wireless charging and the confirmed "Hey Siri" feature.
Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also said that we can expect new AirPods to be released in early 2019.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum this week, and today he met with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
Babiš shared photos of his meeting with Cook on Facebook (via Letemsvetemapplem.eu), and provided some details on what the two discussed. According to Babiš, the two talked about technology in the Czech Republic, also touching on topics such as AI and the economy.
Cook was "thrilled" that there are 500 researchers working in AI in the Czech Republic, and when Babiš asked about an Apple Store for Prague, Cook said that Apple was indeed prepared to open a new Apple Store in the city.
Babiš said the ideal place for the Apple Store would be the Ministry of Regional Development building in the Old Town Square, but should Apple move forward with plans, it's not clear where the store would be located. Apple currently has no retail stores in the Czech Republic.
Cook yesterday met with the Crown Prince of Dubai, and earlier in the week, Cook met with the Armenian Prime Minister and had dinner with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and more.
Apple's iPhone XR was the best selling iPhone in the U.S. during the holiday quarter despite the fact that it was not released until the end of October, according to data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
The iPhone XR accounted for 39 percent of sales during Apple's first fiscal quarter 2019, which equates to the fourth calendar quarter of 2018. The iPhone XS and XS Max, meanwhile, accounted for 26 percent of iPhone sales.
Combined, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max accounted for 65 percent of all holiday quarter iPhone sales, compared to 61 percent for the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X in the year-ago quarter.
The iPhone XR almost matched combined sales of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus at the same time least year, and it represented the largest quarterly share for a single model since the iPhone 7 in CIRP's historical data.
More iPhone buyers in holiday quarter of 2018 also chose iPhones with upgraded storage than in the year-ago quarter.
"For many years each additional storage level carried a $100 premium. Now iPhone prices increase from $50 to $200 for incremental storage, depending on the phone model and the size of the boost in storage. The percentage of iPhone buyers who paid up for increased storage grew to 38% this quarter from 33% in the year ago quarter. Based on the elevated pricing associated with larger storage, as well as the model mix sold in the quarter, we estimate Apple increased its ASP to well over $800."
While multiple reports have suggested the iPhone XR sold well, it did not sell as well as Apple had expected, at least in some areas around the world. Apple recently lowered its earnings guidance for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 due to weak iPhone sales and has reportedly cut iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max production for the January to March quarter.
CIRP gathered its data from a survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers that purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch during the October to December 2018 period.
Apple today released the first beta of iOS 12.2 for developers, and while it doesn't bring as many new changes as we might have hoped for in a 12.x update, there are still quite a few minor tweaks to be aware of.
Below, we've listed all of the new features and changes that we've discovered in iOS 12.2 so far, and we'll update this post should any additional features be found.
- Apple News for Canada - iOS 12.2 expands the availability of Apple News to Canada for the first time, with news sources available in either English or French.
- HomeKit TV Support - Apple recently announced that HomeKit support is coming to a number of third-party TVs, and iOS 12.2 introduces the infrastructure to allow users to add their TVs to HomeKit.
- Home Controls for TVs - Open up the Home app, tap the house-shaped icon in the upper left, choose "Home Settings" and you'll see an updated section for "Allow Speaker & TV Access," which was previously just "Allow Speaker Access." This setting lets you choose who can access and send content to your speakers and TVs.
- Redesigned TV Remote - The TV Remote feature in Control Center has been redesigned with a more streamlined look that takes advantage of the entire display and does away with the large Home button. The TV Remote also has a new dark interface, which was added in beta 3.
- New Screen Mirroring Icon - There's a redesigned Screen Mirroring icon in the Control Center that features two displays rather than a single display and an arrow.
Old design on left, new design on right
- Wallet - The Wallet interface has been slightly tweaked when viewing a single card within the Wallet app. The info button has been relocated to the top, and there's now a "Done" button instead of an option to tap other cards at the bottom of the app. Transaction information is now listed more clearly, with a longer history available. The main wallet interface is largely unchanged, but the "+" button to add a new card is now black instead of blue. These changes may have been implemented ahead of a credit card partnership Apple is rumored to be entering with Goldman Sachs, which could be unveiled soon.
New design on left, old design on right
- Apple Pay Cash - There's an "Add Money" option in Wallet when you select the Apple Pay Cash card. Before, you needed to go into the more detailed Apple Pay Cash view to add money to the card.
New design on left, old design on right
- New AirPlay icon - Some users are seeing a new AirPlay icon when AirPlaying to certain devices.
- Safari search arrows - When entering a search term or website in the main bar in Safari, under the "Google Search" autofill section, there are now little blue arrows. Tapping an arrow adds the text to the search field, so you can get more targeted search results with just a few taps. In prior versions of Safari, tapping on a Google Search result simply conducted the search.
- Unsecure websites - Sites that do not use a secure HTTPS connection are now prominently listed as "Not Secure" in the Safari menu bar. There was a "Not Secure" feature in prior versions of iOS, but it only showed up on pages requesting a password or credit card. Now any unencrypted site shows the "Not Secure" heading.
- Air Quality in Maps - In the Maps app, there's a new option to display Air Quality alongside weather readings. It can be activated in the Maps section of the Settings app.
- Downtime in Screen Time - When using the Downtime feature in Screen Time, you can set Downtime options on a day by day basis. Prior to iOS 12.2, you weren't able to select specific days and times to activate Downtime.
- Safari Privacy - Apple is improving Safari's privacy in iOS 12.2 through a new Motion & Orientation toggle located under Settings --> Safari --> Privacy & Security, which is disabled by default. The setting needs to be enabled on to allow websites to display content that relies on motion data from the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and iPad.
- Lock screen charging fix - The second beta of iOS 12.2 had a pesky bug that caused the iPhone's charge to be displayed on the Lock screen instead of the time. In beta 3, that's been fixed.
- Apple News logo - In the Apple News app, instead of spelling out "Apple News," Apple uses the "" symbol along with the word "News," similar to Apple Pay.
-Apple News app icon - Along with a new logo, Apple News has a new app icon featuring a stylized red N on a field of white.
- About screen - The interface for viewing information about your iPhone has been updated and rearranged in a more logical way with info like model number and serial number at the top with carrier information at the bottom.
Siri Apple Store suggestions - There's a new section under Siri & Search > Apple Store that indicates Siri in iOS 12.2 will be able to suggest Today at Apple sessions for you based on your Safari and app usage.
- Control Center Remote icon - The Remote icon in Control Center now resembles a remote instead of using an Apple TV logo.
Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari - In iOS 12.2, Apple is adding updates to Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature to make it even harder for websites to track you. Apple is also nixing support for Do Not Track, an outdated opt-in feature that many websites ignored.
Audio Messages quality - Audio messages, which can be sent in the Messages app, sound a lot better in iOS 12.2 thanks to the adoption of a new 24000 Hz Opus codec that makes spoken audio sent to friends and family crisper, clearer, and louder. The higher quality audio messages can be sent and received from devices running the iOS 12.2 update.
The iOS 12.2 update is available to both developers and public beta testers at the current time. It's not yet known when Apple plans to release the update, but because it includes hints of the new Apple News service, which is expected to debut in late March, it could be released right around that time.
Pennsylvania-based entity Rembrandt Wireless Technologies has filed a lawsuit against Apple today in the U.S. district court for Eastern Texas, accusing the iPhone maker of infringing on two of its Bluetooth-related patents.
In its complaint, obtained by MacRumors, Rembrandt alleges that all Apple products that support Bluetooth 2.0 or newer with Enhanced Data Rate, including the iPhone 3GS and newer, all iPad and Apple Watch models, several Mac models, HomePod, and others, infringe on U.S. Patent Nos. 8,457,228 and 8,023,580.
Enhanced Data Rate, often shortened to EDR, is a technology that allows for faster Bluetooth data transmission speeds.
The asserted patents describe wireless communication techniques that appear to be related to Bluetooth with EDR, so the alleged infringement could extend to virtually any Bluetooth-enabled device. The same Eastern Texas court ordered Samsung to pay $11 million to Rembrandt last year over the same two patents.
Rembrandt is not the original assignee of the patents, which both expired on December 4, 2018, according to its complaint. The entity says it is still entitled to damages for infringement that occurred prior to the expiration of the patents.
Rembrandt is seeking an award of damages stemming from Apple's infringement in an amount to be proven at trial. In the Samsung case, a jury calculated damages based on a royalty rate of approximately five-and-a-half cents per infringing device. Rembrandt has requested a jury trial against Apple as well.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, who also presided over the Samsung trial.
Last fall I had the chance to take a look at ZENS' all-new Dual + Watch Wireless Charger, which offers spots to charge two Qi-enabled smartphones and one perch for the Apple Watch. I came away quite liking the accessory, which should be a great charging hub for anyone in a two-person household, and now the company has launched a companion accessory called the ZENS Dual Wireless Powerbank.
This device is a portable battery pack that itself includes two spots for wirelessly charging an iPhone 8 or later (or any Qi smartphone), similar to the design of the Dual + Watch stand. The Powerbank has a 9,000 mAh battery, two USB-A ports, and one USB-C charging port on the rear (USB-C to Lightning fast charging is not supported). The device itself also supports wireless charging, so you can place it on the Dual + Watch stand without needing to mess with wires to fuel up the Powerbank more easily.
Design
ZENS mirrored the design of the Dual + Watch Stand for its new Powerbank, and both accessories have a nice rubberized texture on the mat where you place your iPhone. Instead of aluminum on the sides like the stand, the Powerbank has a plastic enclosure that still has a nice heft to it.
Just like the stand, I really like the simple design of the Powerbank. Black isn't usually a color I opt to use in stands as big as the ZENS Dual + Watch, but I've been using it since I reviewed it last October, and the only downside I've come across in the past few months is that it is definitely a dust and fingerprint magnet.
iOS 12.2 and macOS Mojave 10.14.4, available in a beta capacity for developers as of this morning, expands the availability of Apple News app to Canada for the first time.
Canadian iPhone, iPad, and Mac owners can use Apple News in both English and French, with Apple's release notes indicating a bilingual experience is available when following a channel in a second language.
Apple says that publications available during the beta testing period do not reflect all of the content that will be available, and Top Stories and Digests are not updated as frequently as they will be when the feature officially launches.
Apple News first launched in iOS 9 in 2015, and initially, it was only available in the United States. It later launched in Australia and the UK, and those countries, along with Canada, are the only countries where the app can be accessed without adjusting the region location.
Canadians who are using Apple News for the first time (and U.S. readers) can access MacRumors content by following this link.
Apple News in Canada is limited to developers at the current time, but will be available to public beta testers as well when Apple releases public betas. iOS 12.2 and macOS Mojave 10.14.4 should see an official launch after several weeks of beta testing.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.4 update to developers for testing purposes, a couple of days after releasing the prior update, macOS 10.14.3, which focused on bug fixes.
The new macOS Mojave 10.14.4 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after the proper profile has been installed from Apple's Developer Center.
We don't yet know what improvements the next update to macOS Mojave will bring, but it is likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.14.3 update.
What's new in macOS Mojave 10.14.4 - The macOS Mojave 10.14.4 update introduces Apple News in Canada. The update also includes support for automatic dark mode themes in Safari, so if you have Dark Mode enabled and then visit a website that also offers a dark mode, it will be activated automatically.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 12.2 update to developers, just a couple of days after the release of iOS 12.1.3, a minor update that introduced bug fixes for Messages, Photos, the iPad Pro, and the HomePod.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.2 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
As a 12.x update, the new software may include more significant features than the prior 12.x.x updates that we've had recently. iOS 12.2 will mark the second major update to iOS 12 after iOS 12.1, an update that brought eSIM support and Group FaceTime.
We don't yet know what's new in iOS 12.2, but once we've installed the software, we'll update this post with any new features that are discovered.
What's new in iOS 12.2: Today's update expands the availability of Apple News to Canada for the first time. It also brings support for TVs in HomeKit and adds an updated AirPlay icon.
The TV Remote feature in Control Center has been redesigned with a more streamlined look that takes advantage of the entire display and does away with the large Home button.
According to Apple's release notes for the update, there are some known issues. Users may be unable to authenticate in Apple Pay within Wallet after selecting a card, and users may be unable to purchase prepaid data plans using cellular data. Siri does not work in iOS simulators.
High and low heart rate notifications and irregular heart rhythm notifications are available as read-only category samples in HealthKit.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.2 update to developers, two days after releasing watchOS 5.1.3, a minor update focused on bug fixes.
Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.
It's not yet clear what features will be introduced in the watchOS 5.2 update, but as 5.x software, it may include more significant changes than prior minor updates.
Should we discover anything new in the watchOS 5.2 beta, we'll update this post.
Apple this morning seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.2 update to developers for testing purposes, two days after releasing the tvOS 12.1.2 update.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 12.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.
tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes. Apple provides little to no information on what's included in tvOS updates, so we may not discover anything new after installing the new beta.
While we don't know what's new in tvOS updates most of the time, we share when new software is available so developers are able to download it upon release.
Should we discover notable changes in the tvOS 12.2 beta, we'll update this post with details.
Last June at WWDC, Apple revealed that Microsoft Office and its suite of apps would finally be launching on the Mac App Store, without giving a specific launch date. That launch now appears imminent as iOS App Stores in select countries have updated with a new feature referencing the availability of Microsoft Office on the Mac App Store.
We are proud to announce that Microsoft Office 365 is now on the Mac App Store. Your subscription to Office 365 gives you access to all functions on all platforms. To subscribe, sign up for any Office Suite app and update your subscription. Discover all the apps in the suite, and start creating and collaborating!
Microsoft Office apps have been available on Mac for years, but users have had to download them from the web or in physical retail boxes since Apple has never offered them directly in its Mac App Store. This should make the process of getting programs like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel much easier for Mac owners.
Like other versions of Office, you'll need a subscription to Office 365 to gain access to the full features of each app.
Although the launch appears to be very soon, we're still unsure on when exactly Microsoft Office will be ready to download in the Mac App Store. When it is, we'll update this post accordingly.
Update 2: Apple has published a press release about the launch of Microsoft Office on the Mac App Store. The company notes that Office 365 for Mac has been designed to support Mac-unique features, like Dark Mode, Continuity Camera, and Touch Bar on MacBook Pro.
“We are excited to welcome Microsoft Office 365 to the all new Mac App Store in macOS Mojave,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Apple and Microsoft have worked together to bring great Office productivity to Mac users from the very beginning. Now, with Office 365 on the Mac App Store, it's easier than ever to get the latest and best version of Office 365 for Mac, iPad and iPhone.”
You can also download a bundle of all the new Office 365 apps on the Mac App Store, including OneDrive and OneNote.
Apple is planning its own over-ear headphones for as early as the second half of 2019, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Beats Solo3
Gurman briefly mentioned the more specific timeframe in a report claiming that Sonos is also developing a high-end pair of wireless, over-the-ear headphones that could be launched by next year. He previously said the Apple headphones could debut as early as this year, so the "second half" distinction is new.
Gurman previously reported that the headphones will use Apple branding and be positioned as a higher-end alternative to the company's line of Beats headphones. He also said Apple originally intended to introduce the headphones by the end of 2018, but faced development challenges causing a delay.
Six months after MoviePass began placing numerous restrictions on its subscribers in an attempt to prevent the service from completely shutting down, the company today has relaunched with a new advertising campaign and the promise of a new unlimited plan.
As reported by Variety, the so-called "MoviePass 2.0" is rolling out with a few new plans this month, with prices that change depending on your region. Plans start at $9.95/month for three movies per month, but you're limited to only a selection of specific films available each day. This "Select" plan is cheaper for people in the middle of the country, because tickets are generally cheaper in smaller cities, and in big cities it'll be priced at $14.95/month.
There's a mid-tier "All Access" plan priced at $14.95 in small cities, allowing access to all 2D films with the usual three films per month limit. Lastly, the top-tier plan is called "Red Carpet," and it is priced at $19.95/month. On this plan, subscribers can see any three movies of their choosing per month, even in IMAX, 3D, and other premium formats. In big cities, Red Carpet will cost as much as $24.95/month.
All of these new plans still restrict every MoviePass subscriber to just three movies per month, but MoviePass executive vice president Khalid Itum said that the company is gearing up to reintroduce an unlimited subscription plan very soon. Next week, a form of the original MoviePass unlimited plan will be unveiled, but pricing and specific plan details were not covered today.
MoviePass says that after losing subscribers steadily over the past few months, it has started to again increase its numbers and customer sentiment has improved.
Prior to launching the new plans, only 44% of customers had a positive feeling towards MoviePass, according to data collected by NetBase. Last week, that rose to 59% of respondents having a positive view.
“I feel like we’re turning a corner,” said Itum.
In total, Itum says that MoviePass will stop focusing on being a "disruptor" of the industry in attempt to remove the friction between itself and theater chains. This means it will no longer take large cuts of any concessions it helps to sell by getting people to theaters, but will instead charge a small service fee for items it sells. The company will also no longer ask theaters to give MoviePass a discount on tickets that it sells.
Itum is also working on a "red label" solution for exhibitors, which would help them to launch their own theater subscription programs using the MoviePass platform and existing technology. Overall, the vice president described MoviePass as adopting a "more humble" posture in 2019: "Our new business strategy is stabilize, optimize, and grow," he said.
Whether that works for the company remains to be seen. MoviePass originally made waves in August 2017 as the company dropped the price of its main subscription plan to just $9.95/month, allowing users to watch one standard 2D film every day of each month. That price point lasted for nearly one year, and eventually the company added on surge pricing, blockbuster movie restrictions, price hikes, and removed the unlimited monthly plan completely.
