Apple reveals triple-camera iPhone; $5 monthly streaming TV undercuts Disney
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Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller talks about the new iPhones during an Apple special event on September 10, 2019 in Cupertino, California. /VCG Photo

Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller talks about the new iPhones during an Apple special event on September 10, 2019 in Cupertino, California. /VCG Photo

Apple Inc. caught up with hardware rivals on Tuesday by revealing a triple-camera iPhone, and it rolled out a streaming TV service priced at five U.S. dollars a month, undercutting Disney and Netflix.

The announcements came at the company's biggest marketing event, where it unveils its top products for the year ahead, and showcased an aggressive Apple ready to battle on price.

The long-awaited Apple TV+ streaming television service will be available in over 100 countries, starting in November.

Buyers of an iPhone, iPad or Mac will get a free year of streaming TV, potentially drawing hundreds of millions of viewers to the service. That catapults the new service into a rarified group of companies.

Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers the keynote address during an Apple special event on September 10, 2019 in Cupertino, California. /VCG Photo

Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers the keynote address during an Apple special event on September 10, 2019 in Cupertino, California. /VCG Photo

"I think the pricing on the Apple TV service was definitely a positive surprise," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "That's why you're seeing the hammering in some of the other video service-related names like Netflix, Amazon and Roku. Clearly, that was a positive that people were happy to hear."

There was no bundle with Apple Music or other services as some analysts had expected. But Ben Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies, said the TV service, a five-U.S.-dollar a month "Arcade" gaming service and the base model iPhone 11, seem designed to draw in users for the longer term.

IPhone 11 is an update to last year's iPhone XR, but 50 U.S. dollars cheaper at 700 U.S. dollars. It now gets a second camera lens, with a wider angle to squeeze more of the landscape or a group of people into the picture. Stays at 6.1 inches, as measured diagonally. It comes out September 20.

IPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are updates to the XS and XS Max, with prices staying the same at 1,000 U.S. dollars and up. Last year's phones had a telephoto lens for better zoom compared with the regular lens. A third lens now offers wider angles. The display stays at 5.8 inches for regular model, 6.5 inches for Max. The new phones are available to order Friday and will start shipping September 20.

Analysts expect Apple will sell around 200 million iPhones in the next year, in addition to other devices, and while many of those will be in China, it ensures at least tens of millions of potential viewers for the subscription service.

Hal Eddins, chief economist for Apple shareholder Capital Investment Counsel, said Apple's lower priced iPhones "aren't exciting on the surface, but the low streaming price may suck in some new subscribers."

Other new offerings

CEO Tim Cook speaks about the new Apple Watch at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S., September 10, 2019. /VCG Photo

CEO Tim Cook speaks about the new Apple Watch at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S., September 10, 2019. /VCG Photo

Apple Watch: The Series 5 watch catches up with rivals in offering an always-on display. There's also a new Compass app for gauging location, with new titanium and ceramic models available. It comes out September 20, starting at 399 U.S. dollars. Cellular models are 100 U.S. dollars more.

Ipad: Slightly larger screen than before, at 10.2 inches, and comes out September 30, starting at 329 U.S. dollars.

Apple Arcade: Video game service with more than 100 games, curated by Apple and exclusive to the service. Games can be downloaded and played offline – on the Apple-made iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. The service comes out September 19 at five U.S. dollars a month. Games are available through a new dedicated tab in the app store.

Software updates: Free iOS 13 update for existing iPhones on September 19, iPadOS for existing iPads on September 30.

Unspoken: Apple didn't provide any updates on its Mac computers, including a launch date for Catalina, the next version of macOS. And Apple didn't announce any iPhone with support for the faster cellular network known as 5G; while Samsung and other Android makers already have 5G versions for a few hundred dollars more, 5G iPhones aren't expected until next year.

Source(s): Reuters ,AP