Dr. Dre's 'Vital Signs' TV Show Will Be Used to Promote Apple Music
Last week, news hit suggesting Apple is in the middle of developing its first original television series, a show called Vital Signs starring Beats co-founder and Apple executive Dr. Dre. Described as a dark semi-autobiographical drama that's heavy on sex and violence, Vital Signs seemed like an odd choice for Apple's first foray into television.
As it turns out, Apple is planning to use Vital Signs as a way to promote Apple Music rather than as a serious move into the television arena. According to sources who spoke to Re/code's Peter Kafka, the show is part of an effort to create video content that's designed to "extend Apple Music."
So, again: Is Apple really getting into the TV business? Yes. But also, not really.
The real answer is more modest: Apple has already been financing video content it uses to market Apple Music -- "to extend Apple Music," in the words of an insider. And it's doing that with the Dre show. Full stop.
That's much less exciting than "Apple Is Getting Into TV," but it's more accurate.
While Vital Signs is Apple's first TV show, there were rumors over the summer that the company had produced music videos in-house for several popular songs on Apple Music, including Drake's "Energy," Pharrell's "Freedom," and Eminem's "Phenomenal." Apple also partnered with Taylor Swift to produce her "1989 World Tour LIVE" concert film. Vital Signs appears to be a continuation of Apple's work on original music-oriented content to be shared on Apple Music.
Details on Vital Signs were published by The Hollywood Reporter last Friday, with Apple Music being mentioned at that time as a potential distribution platform. It remains unclear if Vital Signs will also be released via iTunes. The show is said to consist of a series of six 30-minute episodes that reflect at least in part on the life of Dr. Dre. Each episode is said to focus on a "different emotion" and the way Dre's character handles it.
Exclusive video content allows Apple to set itself apart from rival services like Spotify and Tidal, boosting subscriber numbers. Last week, iTunes chief Eddy Cue revealed Apple Music now has a total of 11 million subscribers. Apple reportedly plans to produce more video content for Apple Music, but doesn't have intentions to move into video-making on a larger scale.
Popular Stories
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
