The medium-sized monkey with an orange-colored patch around its nose and mouth, known locally as Likweli, joins a very short list of newly identified African monkey species.

The affected products were shipped starting June 29 and have expiration dates through Aug. 3.

From Nevada to Manchester, developers are trialling innovative solutions to clean energy’s biggest challenge

In the deserts of the United Arab Emirates a sprawling clean energy project, stretching across an area roughly the size of 12,600 football fields, will play host to a breakthrough allowing solar energy to power the equivalent of half a million homes through the night.

The Gulf state has been steadily combining 5.2GW of solar power capacity with 19GWh of battery storage to create the largest battery scheme in the world.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

© Photograph: UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

© Photograph: UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Known for tracking California wildfires, Watch Duty is moving beyond that mission. Millions of people are turning to it for help.

Known for tracking California wildfires, Watch Duty is moving beyond that mission. Millions of people are turning to it for help.

© Joel Angel Juarez/Associated Press

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman highlights two notable Apple developments: a new AI tool being tested in retail stores and previously undisclosed plans for the now-defunct Mac Pro.

AI Recording and Transcription for Genius Bar Appointments

Apple is piloting an AI-powered system called Live Notes at select retail stores. The tool allows Genius Bar employees to record conversations with customers using an iPad. AI then transcribes and summarizes the discussion, automatically adding it to the employee’s notes and the official repair session record.

Key details of the pilot include:

• Opt-in only — Both the employee and customer must agree before recording begins.

• Goal — Reduce manual note-taking so staff can focus more on customer service and problem-solving rather than typing during appointments.

• Integration — Transcripts feed directly into Apple’s internal Genius Bar system for better documentation and follow-up.

This initiative reflects Apple’s broader push to integrate AI across its ecosystem, including retail operations, to improve efficiency while maintaining a personal touch in customer interactions. Privacy safeguards via the opt-in requirement appear designed to address potential concerns.

Apple Once had Bigger Plans for the Mac Pro

Apple discontinued the Mac Pro earlier in 2026, but new reporting reveals the company once had far more ambitious plans for the high-end desktop. Gurman notes that Apple developed — but ultimately shelved — “M2 Extreme” and “M3 Extreme” chip variants specifically intended for the Mac Pro.

These ultra-powerful chips were part of an effort to deliver even greater performance for professional users who rely on the modular, expandable workstation. The decision not to release them contributed to the product’s eventual discontinuation, as Apple shifted focus amid changing market demands and the rise of more portable high-performance options like Mac Studio and MacBook Pro configurations.

The revelations underscore the evolving nature of Apple’s Mac lineup, where even flagship products like the Mac Pro face tough strategic trade-offs in an AI-driven computing era.

MacDailyNews Take: Not everything makes it to market. Conditions change. As always, retail and pro desktop innovations continue to shape the company’s customer and professional user experiences.

In the end, Mac Pro was a waste of aluminum. – MacDailyNews, March 30, 2026

For the vast majority of professional users (video editors, photographers, 3D artists, developers, and those running AI/ML workloads) the Mac Studio is the superior choice overall. It delivers an excellent balance of performance, price, compact size, and modern features. The Mac Studio covers 90% (or more) of what the Mac Pro once offered, but at a fraction of the cost and with newer silicon, and the promise of regular updates. The discontinued Mac Pro was only preferable, or truly necessary, in the rare cases that demand heavy internal PCIe expansion that cannot be adequately handled externally via Thunderbolt; a very niche market. – MacDailyNews, March 27, 2026

Apple’s Mac Pro is a dead end. Mac Studio is the high-end Mac future now. Bring on the M5 Ultra Mac Studio and rename it “Mac Pro.” – MacDailyNews, November 17, 2025

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In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $0.48 to $333.74 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $334.98.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 63,196,563 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 54,686,906 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 40.40.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.902 trillion, making it the world’s second-most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.912T
2. Apple (AAPL) – $4.902T
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.231T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.925T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.659T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.252T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.488T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.695T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.087T
• Walmart (WMT): $906.425B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $909.696B
• Intel (INTC): $552.056B
• Cisco (CSCO): $473.938B
• Netflix (NFLX): $310.883B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $220.206B
• IBM (IBM): $275.786B
• Dell (DELL): $254.787B
• Disney (DIS): $166.045B
• Sony (SONY): $122.428B
• Adobe (ADBE): $90.177B
• Spotify (SPOT): $98.65B
• Nokia (NOK): $69.447B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $20.961B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $9.937B
• BlackBerry (BB): $6.06B
• Sonos (SONO): $1.727B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $0.181B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: To the moon, Alice. To the moon!

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Update for the virtual camera system that's chock-full of new features. ($49.99 annual subscription, free update, 159.7 MB, macOS 12.3+)

In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $5.76 to $333.26 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $334.68.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 59,624,981 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 54,664,537 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 40.40.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.895 trillion, making it the world’s second-most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $5.023TT
2. Apple (AAPL) – $4.895T
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.325T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.980T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.688T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.109T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.683T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.469T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.055T
• Walmart (WMT): $913.508B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $816.833B
• Dell (DELL): $253.543B
• Intel (INTC): $487.421B
• Cisco (CSCO): $431.883B
• Netflix (NFLX): $313.073B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $223.341B
• IBM (IBM): $206.051B
• Disney (DIS): $173.009B
• Sony (SONY): $124.819B
• Spotify (SPOT): $98.404B
• Adobe (ADBE): $93.544B
• Nokia (NOK): $57.897B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $22.077B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.54B
• BlackBerry (BB): $5.357B
• Sonos (SONO): $1.679B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $0.135B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: Onward amd upward, Cupertino soldiers!

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In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $12.64 to $327.50 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $328.72.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 58,741,821 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 54,375,570 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 39.70.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.810 trillion, making it the world’s second-most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $5.147T
2. Apple (AAPL) – $4.810T
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.526T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.939T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.743T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.195T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.667T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.483T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.073T
• Walmart (WMT): $913.03B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $871.377B
• Intel (INTC): $518.281B
• Cisco (CSCO): $469.977B
• IBM (IBM): $273.502B
• Dell (DELL): $275.78B
• Netflix (NFLX): $310.925B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $218.098B
• Disney (DIS): $166.688B
• Sony (SONY): $122.34B
• Spotify (SPOT): $99.839B
• Adobe (ADBE): $91.669B
• Nokia (NOK): $65.958B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $22.653B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.487B
• BlackBerry (BB): $6.286B
• Sonos (SONO): ~$1.98B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): ~$0.135B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: Gaudy (yet still woefully undervalued)! To the moon, Alice. To the moon!

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OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, the AI for newbies who don’t know better alternatives exist, is stepping into consumer hardware with its first device: a movable, screen-free smart speaker designed as an always-on AI companion for the home. According to a Bloomberg News report, the product — still in development — aims to control smart-home devices, play media, answer questions, handle messages, and leverage ChatGPT’s capabilities.

This sounds innovative on paper, especially with the promise of a more “humanlike” AI presence. But let’s be clear: Amazon, Google, and Apple pioneered this category years ago. OpenAI isn’t breaking new ground here — it’s trying to catch up to a market these giants have dominated for nearly a decade.

The Smart Speaker Revolution Started Long Before ChatGPT

Amazon lit the fuse in 2014 with the original Echo and Alexa. What began as a cylindrical speaker that could play music, set timers, and answer basic questions quickly evolved into a full ecosystem. Echo devices now control lights, thermostats, door locks, and more — exactly the smart-home hub role OpenAI envisions. Amazon iterated relentlessly with cheaper Dots, portable versions, and premium models, shipping hundreds of millions of units and embedding Alexa into countless third-party devices.

Google followed in 2016 with Google Home (later Nest Audio and similar), emphasizing superior search integration and natural language understanding powered by its vast data resources. These speakers became central to many households for information, entertainment, and automation. Apple entered the fray in 2018 with the HomePod, focusing on premium audio quality and tight integration with its ecosystem, later adding the more affordable HomePod mini.

By the time OpenAI is targeting a potential 2027 launch for its device, smart speakers will have been mainstream for over a dozen years. The core features OpenAI highlights — voice interaction, media playback, smart-home control, and AI assistance — are table stakes that consumers already expect.

What’s New (or Not So New) with OpenAI’s Approach?

The Bloomberg News description by Mark Gurman positions OpenAI’s speaker as a “new type of home computer for the AI era,” movable and screen-free for ambient use.

Earlier reports suggest possible camera integration for environmental awareness, object recognition, and even facial recognition for purchases — features that echo (pun intended) what existing devices already offer or are evolving toward. Many current smart speakers and displays already include cameras, microphones that listen continuously (with privacy toggles), and advanced AI for proactive suggestions.

OpenAI’s edge is presumably its cutting-edge language models, potentially enabling more conversational, context-aware interactions than today’s assistants. Yet even here, competitors aren’t standing still: Google has integrated Gemini, Amazon continues enhancing Alexa with generative AI, and Apple is finally significantly deepening Siri with on-device intelligence in its ecosystem.

Privacy Concerns Loom Large, Especially Versus Apple

One area where OpenAI’s entry raises fresh questions is privacy. An always-listening, camera-equipped AI companion that processes conversations, surroundings, and potentially personal interactions could amass intimate data about users’ daily lives. OpenAI has faced broader scrutiny over how it handles training data and user inputs with its models, and a device that lives in the home would amplify those risks — including potential data sharing, advertising uses, or breaches.

In contrast, Apple has long positioned itself as a privacy leader in the smart speaker space. HomePod devices prioritize on-device processing where possible, use randomized identifiers instead of linking data to user accounts, and offer straightforward controls to delete Siri history. Apple’s ecosystem design generally minimizes cloud transmission and avoids using customer data for ad targeting in the same way its competitors do. OpenAI, as a newer hardware player heavily reliant on cloud-based AI, will need to earn similar trust — something that could prove challenging given the always-on nature of the proposed companion.

Challenges Ahead for the Newcomer

OpenAI enters a crowded, mature market where hardware margins are thin, privacy concerns run high, and user loyalty to existing ecosystems (Amazon for shopping, Google for search, Apple for seamless device handoff) is strong. Building reliable hardware at scale, managing always-listening microphones and potential cameras responsibly, and competing on price (rumored $200–$300 range) won’t be trivial.

History shows that smart speakers succeeded because they solved simple, everyday problems affordably and reliably — not because they promised revolutionary AI companionship. OpenAI’s version may feel more “alive” thanks to advanced models, but it risks being perceived as a me-too product unless it delivers truly standout experiences that justify switching or adding yet another device to the home.
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MacDailyNews Take: In the smart speaker space, OpenAI following well-trodden footsteps laid by Amazon, Google, and Apple. The real test will be whether ChatGPT can make the familiar feel fresh enough to stand out — while addressing privacy headwinds that Apple has long navigated more cautiously.

Our prediction is that it won’t.

OpenAI has always been skeevy, from eschewing its open source roots to Sam Altman to desperately overpaying for a washed Jony Ive. Just plain skeevy.

If ever a Skynet would arise, we expect it would spring from the diseased loins of OpenAI. – MacDailyNews, July 13, 2026

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In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $1.99 to $317.31 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $323.45.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 41,376,714 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 54,682,654 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 38.42.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.660 trillion, making it the world’s second-most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.930T
2. Apple (AAPL) – $4.660T
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.302T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.904T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.660T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.195T
• SpaceX (SPCX): $1.833T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.483T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.667T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.073T
• Walmart (WMT): $913.03B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $871.377B
• Intel (INTC): $518.281B
• Cisco (CSCO): $469.977B
• Netflix (NFLX): $310.925B
• IBM (IBM): $273.502B
• Dell (DELL): $275.78B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $218.098B
• Disney (DIS): $166.688B
• Sony (SONY): $122.34B
• Spotify (SPOT): $99.839B
• Adobe (ADBE): $91.669B
• Nokia (NOK): $65.958B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $22.653B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.487B
• BlackBerry (BB): $6.286B
• Sonos (SONO): ~$1.98B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): ~$0.135B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: To the moon, Alice. To the moon!

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According to Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman in his most recent Power On newsletter, Apple is making one of the biggest changes yet to its Apple Silicon roadmap for Macs. The company is prioritizing on-device AI performance and graphics capabilities over its traditional generational cadence, leading to a skipped generation of high-end chips and a faster push toward the M7 family.

Apple’s New Chip Roadmap: M6 (Base Only), Then Straight to M7

Apple plans to release a base M6 chip as early as late 2026 for entry-level Macs. This includes testing in a refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro (internally codenamed J804). Key improvements expected in the M6 include:

• Memory bandwidth rising to around 200 GB/s (up from 153 GB/s on the M5)

• Enhanced GPU performance with up to 12 cores

• A stronger neural engine for better AI workloads

In a notable departure from past strategy, Apple will skip M6 Pro, M6 Max, and M6 Ultra variants entirely. This marks the first time the company has bypassed higher-end versions of a new chip generation.

Instead, Apple is fast-tracking the M7 series to deliver major advancements in on-device AI processing and graphics performance sooner. According to Gurman’s reporting:

• Base M7 — Expected in the first half of 2027

• M7 Pro and M7 Max — Targeted for late 2027

• M7 Ultra — Slated for 2028 (with support for up to 1.5 TB of memory in high-end configurations)

The M7 lineup (with codenames like Delos for the base and Andros for the higher variants) represents Apple’s effort to meet surging demand for AI features and more graphics-intensive software by accelerating technologies originally planned for later generations.

Gurman also notes that M8 chips are already in active development, with high-end variants expected around 2028 on an advanced manufacturing process.

First-Ever Touch MacBook Pro Coming Soon

Gurman’s newsletter also covers Apple’s long-rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro models (14-inch and 16-inch, codenamed K114 and K116). These represent the biggest hardware overhaul of the high-end MacBook Pro lineup since the transition away from Intel chips.

Key details:

• Expected launch window: Late 2026 or early 2027

• Initial models will use current-generation M5 Pro and M5 Max chips (aligning with the decision to skip high-end M6 variants)

• First MacBooks to feature OLED displays

• Adoption of an iPhone-style Dynamic Island interface (with a hole-punch camera cutout replacing the current notch)

• Touch support designed as a “bonus” feature rather than a primary input method — macOS updates will allow seamless switching between touch and traditional trackpad/keyboard use, with adaptive UI elements

Later follow-up models are expected to transition to the new M7 chips once available. The redesigned laptops are also described as potentially thinner and lighter, with reinforced components to handle touch input without screen bounce.

Why the Change? AI Is Reshaping Apple’s Priorities

Gurman explains that this unusual strategy shift allows Apple to focus engineering resources on the more significant architectural leap in the M7 generation. By skipping incremental high-end M6 chips, the company can deliver stronger on-device AI capabilities and graphics performance to its most powerful Macs faster.

This aligns with broader industry trends and Apple’s ongoing push into AI across its ecosystem (including new Apple Pencil models also mentioned in the newsletter).
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MacDailyNews Take: M6, we hardly knew ya!

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Ahead of the highly anticipated fourth season of the global phenomenon “Ted Lasso,” Apple TV hosted a weekend of events in celebration of the series in Coach Ted Lasso’s hometown of Kansas City. Emmy Award-winning star and executive producer Jason Sudeikis, along with series stars Juno Temple, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, and Abbie Hern, were in attendance for a press conference at CPKC Stadium, a special “Ted Lasso” Night fan event, and a screening of the fourth season’s debut episode at Regnier Extreme Screen in Kansas City.

The 10-episode fourth season of “Ted Lasso” will premiere on Apple TV with the first episode on August 5, followed by one new episode every Wednesday through October 7, 2026. In season four, Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team. Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.

Season four marks the return of fan favorites, including Emmy Award winner Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Emmy Award winner Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Jeremy Swift, alongside new additions Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Abbie Hern and Grant Feely.

“Ted Lasso” season four adds Emmy Award winner Jack Burditt as executive producer under a new overall deal with Apple TV. Jason Sudeikis stars and executive produces alongside Hunt, Joe Kelly, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee, and Bill Wrubel. Goldstein serves as writer and executive producer alongside Leann Bowen. Sarah Walker and Phoebe Walsh serve as writers and producers for season four, and Sasha Garron co-produces. Bill Lawrence executive produces via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal content. Doozer’s Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer also serve as executive producers. The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Kelly,, and Hunt, and is based on the preexisting format and characters from NBC Sports.

Following its global debut on Apple TV, “Ted Lasso” broke records and quickly earned praise from fans and critics all over the world. The first season became the most Emmy Award-nominated comedy series, and the series went on to land rare back-to-back Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys for its first two seasons on air.

The first three seasons of “Ted Lasso” are now streaming globally on Apple TV.

Apple TV offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 850 wins and 3,734 award nominations and counting including multi-Emmy Award-winning and history-making comedies “The Studio” and “Ted Lasso,” global cultural phenomenon “Severance,” Apple’s most-viewed drama “Pluribus,” Academy Award Best Picture winner “CODA” and Academy Award winner “F1,” the highest-grossing sports feature of all time.

MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.

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Can’t stream a YouTube video on a plane? Worried that a rare concert recording will disappear? Need to edit a clip for a presentation? Here’s why TidBITS Talk readers download YouTube videos—and which apps they recommend.

Major League Baseball fans and retro enthusiasts are sure to get a kick out of this one; you can watch live MLB games rendered pitch by pitch and play-by-play in 8-bit style, right in your browser, with a cool webapp called Ribbie. With Ribbie, you’re able to watch of any live baseball game rendered in ... Read More

The post Watch Live MLB Baseball Games in 8-Bit Style with Ribbie appeared first on OS X Daily.

Brings improved reverse geocoding with a new service option and better offline accuracy. ($39 new, free update, 41.1 MB, macOS 12.4+)

Apple TV has achieved a notable milestone in the fiercely competitive U.S. streaming market, rising to become the fourth-largest subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform according to the latest JustWatch Q2 2026 Market Shares report.

The data, based on more than 45 million streaming interactions tracked via the JustWatch app and website across more than 320 SVOD services, measures shifts in user interest and engagement (including searches, clicks, and watchlist additions) over the past three months.

Q2 2026 U.S. SVOD Market Shares (JustWatch)

• Netflix: 20%
• Amazon Prime Video: 15%
• Disney+: 13%
• Apple TV: 13%
• Hulu: 11%
• Max (formerly HBO Max): 10%
• Peacock Premium: 4%
• Paramount+: 3%
• PBS: 2%
• Starz: 1%
• Other services: 4%

Apple TV gained 1 percentage point in the quarter and an impressive 5 percentage points year-over-year — the strongest annual growth among major platforms. This surge allowed it to overtake Hulu and Max and secure sole possession of fourth place.

Netflix continues to lead, but saw some quarterly softening in prior periods before rebounding slightly. Prime Video remains a strong second despite flatter annual performance. Disney+ holds steady in third.

Subscriber Context and Apple’s Strategy

Apple does not publicly disclose exact subscriber numbers for Apple TV. Industry estimates place global paid subscribers around 45 million as of late 2025/early 2026 vs. Netflix (300M+ paid), Amazon Prime Video (200M+ global users), and Disney+ (131.6 million paid).

However, Apple TV punches above its weight in the U.S. thanks to deep integration with Apple’s hardware ecosystem. Promotional offers (such as three free months with new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV purchases) and bundling through Apple One help drive adoption. The service maintains a premium, ad-free positioning while competitors have widely adopted ad-supported tiers.

High-quality originals continue to fuel momentum. Acclaimed titles like Severance, Shrinking, and others have driven record viewership in recent periods. Looking ahead, Apple’s multi-year exclusive U.S. rights to Formula 1 (starting in 2026) represent a significant expansion into live sports, potentially broadening its appeal.

Broader Streaming Landscape

The U.S. SVOD market remains dynamic. While scale leaders Netflix and Prime Video dominate overall, mid-tier services are closing gaps through content quality, user experience, and bundling. Many households now subscribe to multiple services (often 4–6 on average), increasing competition for attention and wallet share.

Apple TV’s strong engagement growth signals that a focused, high-production-value approach can resonate even without the massive libraries of its larger rivals.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV’s momentum is accelerating in a competitive market thanks to its focus on premium content; quality over quantity (even as the quantity continues to grow)!

Note on methodology: JustWatch’s figures reflect engagement and interest on its platform rather than total subscribers, paid viewing hours, or revenue. This can differ from other rankings (e.g., those from Parks Associates or analyst estimates focused on subscriber counts).

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The post Apple TV climbs to fourth-largest SVOD platform in the U.S. with strongest annual growth appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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