Apple wants to make news more accessible by including audio snippets of stories in its News+ app, according to a new report published midweek by Digiday.
Apple has reportedly reached out to four publishers regarding the proposal, which would see the Cupertino-based company covering the costs of production and offering revenue similar to the model used for written news pieces.
Apple News+ launched in the UK last year and is currently priced at £9.99 per month.
Apple says that 50% of all its subscription revenue goes back to publishers based on the amount of time people spend consuming content on a monthly basis.
Digiday said that Apple did want to pick and choose the news stories it wanted to support with audio, but due to intellectual property issues, publishers are more open to the idea of pitching individual stories themselves.
Audio-based content has grown in popularity during the last few years with the rise of Amazon’s Audible service, which is the largest hub for downloadable audiobooks.
The New York Times also acquired Audm earlier this year with the aim of turning long-form editorials into audio content for readers.
Google already offers audio-based news via its Google Assistant, which uses licensed audio from a few trusted news sources.
Apple is believed to have been looking at ways to create more audio content for a while now.
In other news, Apple added four new MacBooks to its ‘vintage’ products list.
Four MacBook Air models from 2013 and 2014 and a single MacBook Pro from 2014 will no longer be eligible for support in Apple Stores or via its Authorised Service Providers.
Vintage products differ from obsolete products in that device owners can still purchase parts from other third parties.
The fifth-generation iPod Touch, which was discontinued back in 2015, was also added to the list.
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