Apple reveals new iPads and Apple Watch

Spotify (SPOT) is criticizing Apple’s new digital subscription bundling offer, Apple One, calling it "anti-competitive." 

Apple One allows subscribers to pay a single monthly fee, starting at $14.95, for access to a collection of Apple’s digital services, including Apple Music, Apple Arcade and Apple TV+.

Spotify competes with Apple Music. Last year it filed a complaint against Apple with European antitrust officials, accusing it of giving its own music service an unfair advantage over competitors. Apple is also facing antitrust scrutiny related to its app store policies after it was sued by the maker of video game Fortnite.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The invitation read "Time flies" and so did Apple's online-only product launch event.

Clocking in at an hour, give or take, Apple executives sped through the fine details of the latest Apple Watch, iPad, iPad Air and a host of new services.

Frankly, it was refreshing compared to the often-over-the-top in-person events Apple is famous for. Those have to slow down for people to exit and enter the stage, not to mention giving pause to make room for audience reactions.

Tuesday's virtual format was, of course, due to the ongoing pandemic, which has forced big tech events to be online only or outright canceled. We'll likely go back to the big shows after the coronavirus is contained, whenever that is. But hopefully this experience shows Apple, Samsung, Google and the like that you can produce a flashy, seamless event that delivers all the same details without needing the expense and time suck of a live event.

If you don't buy a new device, your existing Apple products will get a refresh if you update to new software tomorrow.

Apple previously announced new features coming to iOS 14, including ways to better discover and organize apps, upgrades to group chats and privacy changes.

Existing Apple Watches will also get an update. With Watch OS 7, users will get sleep tracking, automatic hand washing detection and additional fitness workouts.

Apple is getting in on the online fitness craze and incumbents have taken notice.

Apple announced a Fitness+ subscription, built for the Apple Watch, that costs $9.99 a month and will include cycling and yoga exercises. It launches later this year.

Peloton CEO John Foley said during an investor and analyst meeting that he is "digesting" Apple's announcement.

Foley said that Apple launching Fitness+ is "quite a legitimization of fitness content, to the extent the biggest company in the world ... is coming in and saying fitness content matters."

Still, the CEO said he thinks Peloton holds the upper-hand with its bikes and treadmills, noting that Apple is not launching a rival bike. "We think the special sauce, the magic, is our connected platforms and in order to work out at home you need a stationary bike if you're going to be biking."

At the time of writing, Peloton's stock was up over 5% on the day.

Apple sells a lot of services. Now it's giving customers a way to buy all of them in a bundle, which will be called Apple One.

The subscription service comes in three tiers. The cost for an individual is $14.95, which gets you Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+ and iCloud. A family subscription goes for $19.95, which allows those services to be shared with up to six family members. Finally, a premier subscription for $29.95 a month includes all those services plus News and Fitness subscriptions. It also bumps up the storage to 2TB.

Apple is offering the new service on a 30-day free trial.

The company is offering another new subscription service, called Fitness+, which provides members with exercises like yoga and cycling. It costs $9.99 per month.

Following in the footsteps of iPad Pro, iPad Air now uses USB-C instead of Apple's proprietary Lightning connector, meaning you'll be able to charge it with the same cable that charges a new MacBook Air or a Google Pixel. It's a major convenience upgrade to a universal technology.

Does this mean we might see a USB-C iPhone some time soon? A geek can dream.

Tim Cook just returned to the live stream to introduce the "all new, completely redesigned iPad Air."

The new iPad features a larger 10.9-inch screen, a smaller Touch ID sensor for fingerprint unlock, and a new A14 silicon chip that Apple says is its most powerful yet and will significantly improve the iPad's performance.

Apple is also giving the iPad Air USB-C compatibility, which will allow it to connect to a wider variety of non-Apple devices.

It comes in five different colors, including rose gold, green and blue.

The iPad Air will start at $599 and be available from next month.

The new 8th generation iPad features what Apple says is an all-day battery, faster graphics and processing, a better camera and the A12 bionic chip, which Apple says is "more powerful than ever."

Apple threw some shade at Google, saying its new iPad is six times faster than the top selling Chromebook.

It's available starting Friday for $329.

Apple is refreshing its iPad. We're diving into the iPad 8th generation updates now.