iTunes Chief Eddy Cue: Apple Execs Don't Make Notes on Apple TV+ Scripts

Following a recent interview with The Times, Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue sat down with GQ to share further thoughts on Apple Music and Apple TV+, Apple's upcoming streaming television service.

According to Cue, Apple plans to differentiate its streaming service by offering "the best shows," such as "For All Mankind," an upcoming space drama from Ronald D. Moore that explores what would have happened had the Soviet Union landed on the moon first and had the space race never ended.

eddycuegq
Cue says that Apple worked with "the best people in the business" to create a show with a lot of attention to detail. "Like, we took the Houston control panel. We were able to get a lot of the original stuff. We didn't create fake ones," said Cue.

Contrary to some reports, Cue says that Apple executives have not been involved in script editing and have not had input on the ‌Apple TV‌+ shows in an editorial capacity.

"I saw the comments that myself and Tim were writing notes on the scripts and whatever," says Cue. "There's never been one note passed from us on scripts, that I can assure you. We leave the folks [alone] who know they're doing."

"I can assure you that was 100 per cent false. He didn't say, 'Don't be so mean.' He didn't say anything about a script."

Cue says that Apple is aiming to create shows for everyone, from children to mature adults. "We're going to do a lot of different shows," he said. Apple will have television shows that aren't family friendly, such as "The Morning Show" with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

"The Reese Witherspoon-Jennifer Aniston show [The Morning Show is a workplace drama set behind the scenes of breakfast TV]. It's a show about women in the workplace and some of the issues that happen to them are definitely not appropriate for you to watch with an eight-year-old."

As for the show that he's most excited about, Cue says that he can't wait for "Dickinson," a show about the life of poet Emily Dickinson that stars Hailee Steinfeld.

Cue also commented on the upcoming music lyric syncing feature in iOS 13, which scrolls through lyrics as a song plays.

"It just takes an inordinate amount of money to try to do this and to try to figure out how to do this the right way," says Cue. And while Apple is naturally starting with the most popular tracks, Cue says it doesn't intend to stop there. The plan is to add synced-up lyrics to every song in the Apple Music library.

"I honestly don't know the exact number of people who are working on it. In our ideal world it would be zero because we'd get them all from the labels. But we discovered that it wasn't going to work. In general it takes hundreds of people to do.

Cue's full interview can be read over at GQ, and for a rundown of all of the TV shows Apple has in the works, make sure to check out our guide. For details on how the ‌Apple TV‌+ service will work, we have a guide for that too.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...

Top Rated Comments

BootsWalking Avatar
75 months ago
I don't think I'll ever get used to Apple being an entertainment show creator. Just doesn't compute.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
75 months ago
I’m an old school Apple fan, way before Apple became mainstream but I’m really excited for Apple’s services, and most of all AppleTV+. Apple has evolved throughout its history and I embrace where they’re going.

Apple has always been about not just building the hardware but also the best experiences you could have with that hardware. Yesterday’s apps are today’s services. Apple products are heavily used by the general public for consuming content. And as they’ve always done, they’re producing the best of what can be experienced on Apple hardware, providing a guideline and then letting talented third parties take it and both meet and exceed that bar.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
75 months ago
I don't know if Apple will be able to beat a company like Amazon, which is pouring billions of dollars into TV productions like a Lord of the Rings-related TV series and a TV series based on Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books.
I have Prime and it’s the triumph of mediocre and cheap. Apple can do so much better.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rob_2811 Avatar
75 months ago
I have Prime and it’s the triumph of mediocre and cheap. Apple can do so much better.
Amazons content has won three academy awards and seven Emmys, all we've seen from Apple so far is a 30 second trailer and Tim Cook crying on stage with Oprah.

I think its fair to say Apple got a lot to do to do 'much better'.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
75 months ago
I don't know if Apple will be able to beat a company like Amazon, which is pouring billions of dollars into TV productions like a Lord of the Rings-related TV series and a TV series based on Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books.
Apple doesn't have to "beat" Amazon, nor do they have to put Netflix out of business. CBS didn't beat NBC but they've remained in business side by side for almost a century. There's room for more than one streamer.

Apple just needs to produce high quality content that leads people to using the TV app which in turn will lead to subscriptions to partner channels and ultimately become the place to watch TV.

Amazon will be smart to join in and list their content in the AppleTV app. Amazon's model is different than Apple's. TV content is a perk of having Prime which drives sales in their store. Having easy access to Amazon content on Apple devices is actually a benefit to both companies.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DoctorTech Avatar
75 months ago
I am looking forward to, and have high hope / expectations from Apple TV+. I believe there is a market for high quality content and I think Apple will do it right.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)