Jason's top insights and reactions from Apple's event: M1 iMac and iPad Pro, AirTags, Podcasts and more!

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Top Insights

• Balkanization of the podcasting industry is under way, and market leaders like Apple and Spotify will benefit while open standards will lose out (unless someone builds a successful open-source platform)
• Apple and Spotify competing for the podcasting throne is going to be something to watch over the next 5-10 years, and will ultimately be great for consumers
• AirTags will be a huge hit, and Tile might have a legitimate gripe against Apple for anti-competitiveness if all iPhone/Apple users switch over due to price and convenience
• The M1 chip is groundbreaking for Apple as they launched the new M1-enabled iMac and iPad Pro and are now less reliant on outsourced chips
• Tim Cook loves Ted Lasso

Intro

On April 20th, Apple held their "Spring Loaded" event and revealed a number of new products, redesigns & more!

On this emergency episode, Jason covered the following:

• Apple Podcasts redesign
• AirTags
• M1 iMac
• M1 iPad Pro

Pre-Game Tweet

Apple Podcasts Redesign

Back in 2005, Jason asked Steve Jobs if Apple would let users sell podcasts on their podcasting platform:

Major updates to Apple Podcasts via CEO Tim Cook:

• Redesigned show pages
• Adding channels and recommendations
• Paid subscriptions that can include extra content, ad-free audio and more
• Apple will take 30% of first-year revenue, 15% of second-year revenue
• Redesigned Apple Podcasts will launch in May

According to Verge reporter Ashley Carman, Apple Podcasts' subscription content will have to be uploaded via their backend, not through an RSS feed

• This is similar to how Spotify has treated Joe Rogan's podcast since making it an exclusive
• His podcast now has no RSS feed and all content is hosted on Spotify's backend

Apple's renewed interest in podcasts comes on the heels of Spotify's two-year acquisition spree in podcasting and social audio:

Here are some of Spotify's major podcasting acquisitions & feature additions since 2019...

• October 2019: Spotify acquires Gimlet Media & Anchor (Podcast publishing platform)
• February 2020: Spotify acquires The Ringer (~$200M)
• May 2020: Spotify signs an exclusive deal with Joe Rogan (Over $100M) to take his podcast exclusive
• July 2020: Spotify launched new "Top Podcasts" & "Trending Podcasts" charts and launched a video podcasting feature
• November 2020: Spotify acquires podcast publishing and analytics platform Megaphone
• March 2021: Spotify acquires social audio app Locker Room

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek laid out his thinking in a February 2019 blog post titled "The Path Ahead: Audio-First":

“Our podcast users spend almost twice the time on the platform, and spend even more time listening to music.” - Daniel Ek

• Ek believes that 20% of all Spotify listening will be non-music content in the future

Has Spotify's podcasting focus already caught them up with Apple?

• In a March 2021 market forecast, eMarketer predicted that Spotify will surpass Apple in total US podcast listeners in 2021 by around 200,000, and grow their lead in 2022 and 2023

AirTags

Apple announced a new product in direct competition with Tile on Tuesday!

• Tile is the current market leader in Bluetooth finder beacons, and AirTags will compete directly against them
• AirTags price: $29 for 1, $99 for a 4-pack
• available to order on April 23rd
• Tile's closest comparison are the 4-pack of "Stickers" which cost $60
• Tile CEO CJ Prober released a statement after Apple's event:

"We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition. Unfortunately, given Apple’s well-documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical. And given our prior history with Apple, we think it is entirely appropriate for Congress to take a closer look at Apple’s business practices specific to its entry into this category. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further in front of Congress tomorrow."

• According to TechCrunch, in response to Tile, Apple points out that its "Find My" network pre-dates Tile’s founding, and that Tile is able to use Find My if it chooses.
• They also note that Tile has a 90% market share and Apple will need to sell a lot of AirTags to catch up.
• Tile testified in front of Congress on Wednesday, 4/21 along with Match and Spotify regarding Apple's anti-competitive behavior

M1 iMac

In probably their most talked about reveal, Apple showed off a slimmer, slicker iMac that runs on their M1 chip

Important features and info:

• Advanced M1 performance
• Incredibly slim design (11.5 millimeters thin) made possible by the M1
• 24-inch 4.5K Retina display
• Optimized for video meetings with better camera, mic and audio software
• Ethernet flows through power supply for better cable management
• Price: starting at $1,299 for 7-core GPU and $1,499 for the 8-core GPU
• Available in May

Kevin Rose chimed in on the new iMacs:

M1 iPad Pro

To wrap up the event, Apple spent almost 22 minutes debuting the new M1-enabled iPad pro

Features:

• M1 chip
• 5G connectivity
• 2TB storage
• Thunderbolt and USB 4 for faster data transfer
• Price: 11-inch starts at $799, 12.9 inch starts at $1,099
• Available in May

Here was Jason's reaction via Twitter, as every VC lost their collective minds:

Tim Cook loves Ted Lasso

• In one of the most wholesome (and funny) moments from the event, CEO Tim Cook went over the recent success of Apple TV+ and gushed about Ted Lasso before tossing to the season 2 trailer!
• Jason's idea: pay Jason Sudeikis $1M in Apple stock to come to every Apple event in character as Ted Lasso

Thanks to Odoo for sponsoring the show!

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