Rumor: Apple will relaunch Texture next spring as a premium product within Apple News

Apple is preparing to relaunch Texture in spring 2019 and make it a premium product within Apple News, reports Bloomberg, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” 

Texture is a digital magazine subscription service/app that Apple scooped up in March. Described as the “Netflix of magazines,” it offers access to 200 magazines for a monthly fee. You can try it free for seven days. Magazines offered include Entertainment Weekly, RollingStone, TIME, Reader’s Digest, Esquire, People, and Better Homes & Gardens.

Apple News is an app and news aggregator for iOS and macOS devices.

Bloomberg says Apple is trying to convince publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times to join Texture and plans to refine its design. This rumor aligns with a September article at re/code that Apple execs, led by senior vice president of Internet software and services, Eddy Cue, have approached The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post about joining Texture.

Chances this rumor is true, according to the Sellers Research Group (that’s me): 90%. It makes sense with Apple’s focus on growing its Services division. Of course, it’s also possible that, as rumored in June that Apple is considering creating a single subscription offering that would encompass its original TV shows, music service and magazine articles. Such an offering would be a bit similar to Amazon’s Prime service, which spans video, music and some news.