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According to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, Apple is planning several improvements to Apple Fitness+ and Apple Pay this year and is considering offering an entirely new grocery service that will be integrated into the Health app.
In the latest Output In his newsletter "Power On," Gurman outlined his expectations for new Apple services this year. Two finance-related Apple services are reportedly in development, including a hardware subscription program and a "buy now, pay later" service for Apple Pay transactions, which will allow customers to pay for their Apple Pay purchases in installments, competing with existing services like Klarna.
Will users soon be able to subscribe to an iPhone, iPad or Mac from Apple?
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 equate buying an iPhone or iPad with buying iCloud storage or an Apple Music subscription by allowing customers to subscribe to the hardware using their Apple ID and App Store account. This service is rumored to be Apple's biggest foray into recurring sales yet. Although Apple has been working on hardware subscriptions for months, it was apparently shelved to focus on the Apple Pay "buy now, pay later" service.
Apple's services: More subscriptions could follow
Gurman claims that Apple is working to introduce hardware subscriptions by the end of 2022. However, it could also be delayed until 2023 or canceled altogether. Apple is also reportedly planning to add new workouts to Apple Fitness+ with iOS 16 later this year. Furthermore, Apple is said to be exploring offering an "Instacart-like service that ties into nutrition data in the Health app." Gurman noted that the service is potentially complex to implement and "fairly low-margin." He added that he also hopes for major upgrades to Apple TV+ this year. Loup Ventures suspects that Apple could offer "Podcasts+," "Stocks+," "Mail+," and "Health+" in the future. This suggests Apple's services business could become even more interesting. (Image: Apple)
