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Apple News: A big apple, uneven bites

20 January 2026
Access report

Apple News now reaches c.14m monthly users in the UK, making it one of the largest news distribution environments by scale. This reach is driven by default placement on iOS and editorial curation, rather than open-platform referral dynamics.

We estimate there are c.1.7m Apple News+ subscriptions in the UK thanks to Apple One bundling, enabling users to access premium journalism via a subscription they already pay for. News+ revenues are particularly valuable for publishers without strong standalone subscription engines.

Publishers face a clear trade-off: Apple News drives real but bounded reach and revenue, but deepens dependence on a gatekeeper with opaque rules, limited data, and growing power over discovery.

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Publishers and Apple News: Still experimenting

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Apple's News and News+ service to iOS users in the UK, US, Canada and Australia has attracted many ad-funded and paywalled news publishers since its launch in 2015

Publishers’ 'opt-in' to its walled garden environment to reach underserved demographics on their own sites and raise brand awareness, and more recently, take advantage of the reduced commission on subscriptions sold through the App Store, with Apple taking 15% instead of 30%

For Apple, the priority is to improve the user experience, ultimately driving sales of iOS devices, although its engagement with news is only a minor source of revenue compared to games. We regard Apple News as being mainly a device to buttress its reputation in those selected markets where it faces political and regulatory pressures, explaining its limited geographic roll-out

Access report

  • Publishers and Apple News: Still experimenting

    28 June 2022

    Apple's News and News+ service to iOS users in the UK, US, Canada and Australia has attracted many ad-funded and paywalled news publishers since its launch in 2015

    Publishers’ 'opt-in' to its walled garden environment to reach underserved demographics on their own sites and raise brand awareness, and more recently, take advantage of the reduced commission on subscriptions sold through the App Store, with Apple taking 15% instead of 30%

    For Apple, the priority is to improve the user experience, ultimately driving sales of iOS devices, although its engagement with news is only a minor source of revenue compared to games. We regard Apple News as being mainly a device to buttress its reputation in those selected markets where it faces political and regulatory pressures, explaining its limited geographic roll-out

    Access report