After another iPad event, I’m left without the announcement I’ve been waiting for once again. While I’m always happy to see new iPads and accessories for them, I have been waiting for a different kind of announcement from Apple for years now.
On Tuesday, Apple hosted its “Let Loose” event and revealed the next-generation iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Pencil Pro, and Magic Keyboard. In addition, the company announced new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. It also quietly discontinued the 9th-generation iPad and Smart Keyboard Folio for the iPad Pro.
While a larger iPad Air and the OLED screen on the iPad Pro are both something to get excited about, I was really hoping to see Apple talk about something else — not about hardware, not about software, but about services.
Specifically, I was hoping (yet again) that the company would finally announce Apple Books+, a subscription service to rival Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited book-reading service. Kindle Unlimited, which gives readers access to a catalog of ebooks and audiobooks for one monthly price, has now been around for a decade and has established itself as the go-to service for readers.
Despite Apple also being in the book business and offering ebooks and audiobooks through the Apple Books app since 2010, when it revealed the original iPad, Apple has yet to reveal a competitive service to take on Amazon. Since 2019, the company has released a number of subscription services, including Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+. However, Apple Books+ remains elusive.
This seems to be the next obvious service that Apple can bring a subscription to, and I hope it does. I would leave Kindle Unlimited so fast — especially if Apple Books+ was wrapped into Apple One, the company’s subscription bundle service that offers a discount on its services. If the company offered Apple Books+ as part of its Premier tier of service, I would cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription so fast that Jeff Bezos would…probably do nothing because it wouldn’t make a difference. But you get the point.
The rumors of a new iPad mini point to a potential release in the fall. So here I go again, hoping that such an announcement will also include Apple Books+. Until then, I’ll debate myself on whether or not I want to read on my iPad mini or a Kindle. That’s another battle for the ages, so that’ll keep me busy until October.