As 2025 draws to a close and millions gear up for 2026 New Year’s resolutions, Apple is rolling out a fresh series of motivational advertisements highlighting the Apple Watch as the ultimate tool to stick with fitness goals.

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	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Apple debuts new ‘Quit Quitting with Apple Watch’ ads to boost New Year’s fitness motivation MacDailyNews Dec 30   READ IN APP   Still from Apple’s new ‘Quit Quitting’ Apple Watch ad. As 2025 draws to a close and millions gear up for 2026 New Year’s resolutions, Apple is rolling out a fresh series of motivational advertisements highlighting the Apple Watch as the ultimate tool to stick with fitness goals. The campaign, centered on the theme “Quit quitting with Apple Watch,” features short, energetic spots shared across social media platforms and YouTube Shorts. In these ads, Apple Watch users are shown dramatically fleeing everyday temptations — a cozy bed, a comfortable recliner, and even a bar stool — symbolizing the urge to skip workouts or give in to laziness. The message is clear: Don’t give in to quitting. Each ad showcases real-time features from the Workout app, including pace tracking, activity segment updates, and encouraging notifications when users close their Activity rings. One spot points out a sobering fact: most people abandon their New Year’s resolutions by January 9th, often dubbed “Quitter’s Day.” Apple’s tagline, “Don’t Give In,” reinforces the idea that the Apple Watch provides the nudge needed to push past that slump. This timely push aligns with Apple’s broader emphasis on health and fitness. As Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, has noted in the past, “A decade ago, we introduced Activity rings — and since then, Apple Watch has grown to offer an extensive set of features designed to empower every user… People write to us almost every day sharing how Apple Watch has made a difference in their life, from motivating them to move more throughout the day, to changing the trajectory of their health.” Recent updates, like the AI-powered Workout Buddy in watchOS 26 (available on newer models such as Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3), take motivation further by delivering personalized, spoken encouragement during sessions based on heart rate, pace, and personal milestones. Apple’s strategy taps into the post-holiday motivation surge, positioning the Apple Watch not just as a smartwatch, but as a committed fitness partner. With features like real-time metrics, customizable workouts, and seamless integration with Apple Fitness+, the device aims to help users “run right past Quitter’s Day” and build lasting habits. MacDailyNews Take: Whether you’re resolving to run more, close those rings daily, or simply move a bit extra in 2026, Apple’s latest ads remind us: With Apple Watch, motivation is right on your wrist. ‎ Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you! Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon. The post Apple debuts new ‘Quit Quitting with Apple Watch’ ads to boost New Year’s fitness motivation appeared first on MacDailyNews. You're currently a free subscriber to MacDailyNews. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 MacDailyNews 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe

Apple is seeking to overturn a landmark £1.5 billion ruling by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, which found the tech giant abused its dominant position by overcharging millions of British customers through inflated App Store fees.

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	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Apple to appeal £1.5 billion UK ruling over ‘excessive’ App Store commissions MacDailyNews Dec 29   READ IN APP   Apple is seeking to overturn a landmark £1.5 billion ruling by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, which found the tech giant abused its dominant position by overcharging millions of British customers through inflated App Store fees. The class-action lawsuit, brought by academic Dr Rachael Kent on behalf of around 36 million consumers who made purchases between 2015 and 2024, accuses Apple of imposing commissions of up to 30% on apps and in-app purchases—far above what the tribunal deemed fair (17.5% on apps and 10% on in-app transactions). Dismissing the verdict as flawed, Apple argues its App Store fosters a “thriving and competitive” ecosystem, but the case signals growing scrutiny on Big Tech’s “Apple tax” amid a wave of similar opt-out lawsuits targeting both Apple and Google. Robert Booth for The Guardian: ‎ “It’s definitely a tipping point,” said Dr Rachael Kent, an academic at King’s College London who won the £1.5bn case against Apple on behalf of 36 million UK consumers. “People are pushing back against the harms from digital worlds, which they have to be living in and through every day and the financial implications of that,” she said. Kent added that the win in October still felt “a bit pinch me”. If Apple’s appeal fails, every person in the UK who made App Store purchases between 2015 and 2024 could be entitled to a payout. Another of the cases is being brought by Barry Rodger, a law professor at the University of Strathclyde, on behalf of more than 2,000 app developers who he argues are collectively entitled to up to £1bn in compensation. “Small and medium-sized app developer businesses have suffered as the result of excessive profiteering by the App Store and Google Play,” he said. His case alleges Google Play has charged “excessive, arbitrary and discriminatory commissions” against developers, with the makers of dating and games apps particularly affected. ‎ MacDailyNews Take: Again, the vast majority of developers who pay Apple an App Store commission, pay 15%. That amounts to 12 cents of “inflated prices” for non-free apps on average. So, if you bought 50 apps for your iPhone, it would cost you, on the average, a total of $40. Halving Apple’s commission would reduce that price to $37. Removing Apple’s commission entirely would reduce that price to $34. Behold the sheer terror of “inflated prices” brought on by Apple’s “excessive profiteering” — namely, daring to fund the App Store that serves more than 1.4 billion iOS and iPadOS users: a total of $3-$6 per every 50 apps, on average. How can any app consumer survive such abject gouging?!2 How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? Does Apple not have costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to 1+ billion users? – MacDailyNews, July 30, 2021 Ultimately, the end user pays, regardless. Either Apple continues to take App Store commissions to pay for their infrastructure costs or they increase hardware and/or subscription prices to pay for the government interference. ‎ Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you! Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon. The post Apple to appeal £1.5 billion UK ruling over ‘excessive’ App Store commissions appeared first on MacDailyNews. You're currently a free subscriber to MacDailyNews. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 MacDailyNews 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe

In a revelation that flips the script on how we think about studio influence, Vince Gilligan and his team have disclosed that the jaw-dropping closing moment of Pluribus‘ first season — Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) casually having an atomic bomb delivered to her driveway — wasn’t part of the original plan.

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	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Apple exec’s note made ‘Pluribus’ season finale’s shocking last scene the bomb (spoilers) MacDailyNews Dec 29   READ IN APP   Apple TV+’s acclaimed science fiction drama “Pluribus” stars Emmy Award nominee Rhea Seehorn In a revelation that flips the script on how we think about studio influence, Vince Gilligan and his team have disclosed that the jaw-dropping closing moment of Pluribus‘ first season — Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) casually having an atomic bomb delivered to her driveway — wasn’t part of the original plan. What began as a subtle, understated alliance between Carol and Manousos evolved into high-stakes nuclear brinkmanship thanks to a pivotal note from Apple and Sony executives. Alan Sepinwall for The Ringer: ‎ “We had a much subtler ending,” recalls [Gordon] Smith, who also directed the finale. “It was like a secret handshake between them, like her way of saying, ‘I’m with you.’” But executives at Sony and Apple TV had a suggestion for [Alison] Tatlock and Smith’s boss, Pluribus creator Vince Gilligan: Maybe subtle isn’t the way to go at the end of the first season of such an ambitious, high-concept, globe-trotting sci-fi drama. So team Pluribus dropped an atomic bomb on Carol’s driveway. Literally. Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) tells Manousos Oviedo (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) what’s in the box in “Pluribus” S1E9. To be fair, the bomb was dropped very gently, inside a secure crate, and has yet to explode. But simply placing a weapon of mass destruction in Carol’s possession drastically upped the stakes in her plan to save the human race from collective happiness. “It was a great note,” acknowledges Gilligan. And it wasn’t a cheat because the writers realized that Carol had already asked the Others if they would give her an atom bomb if she asked for one. As the great Russian playwright Anton Chekhov once said (I think), if your romantasy writer heroine asks whether she can have an atomic bomb in the first act of your season, then the planetary collective has to give her one by the end of your third act. Never mind that this script change would require a helicopter to land in the cul-de-sac, which isn’t cheap — but, after all, Apple and Sony had already gone to the expense of letting Gilligan and his crew build the entire cul-de-sac from scratch so they could film whatever they wanted there without being at the mercy of cranky neighbors, lookie-loos, influencers, etc. If Pluribus needed a helicopter and a crate that would almost certainly be opened in a later season, then Gilligan’s corporate bosses were going to pay for it. ‎ MacDailyNews Take: Unfortunately, when asked how long it might be until we see a second season, Gilligan told The Ringer, “‘Longer than I would care for it to be,’ (with a deep sigh), because the show takes a lot of time to get as precisely calibrated as his other shows — if not more, considering the scope of things. “It’s gonna be a while.” Hopefully not as long as the wait between seasons one and two of Severance*! *The season 1 finale of Severance aired on April 8, 2022, and the season 2 premiere was released on January 17, 2025. That was a wait of 1,015 days, about 2 years and 9 months, due to production delays, including the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes. ‎ Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you! Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon. The post Apple exec’s note made ‘Pluribus’ season finale’s shocking last scene the bomb (spoilers) appeared first on MacDailyNews. You're currently a free subscriber to MacDailyNews. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 MacDailyNews 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe