This week in Apple: AirPods Pro land, AirTag tracker rumors, and Apple TV Plus

The big Apple news this week is all about AirPods Pro, the latest true-wireless earbuds from the company. The active noise-cancellation is a big plus for the new ‘phones, but the repairability score from iFixit is pretty horrible (although not unexpectedly so).

In other news, we have some information regarding the upcoming AirTag tracker from Apple, as well as the launch of Apple TV Plus. However some of the exclusive shows on that platform aren’t getting great reviews.

See the Apple news roundup below for all the latest.

The top Apple news stories of the past week:

• AirPods Pro land to great reviews, but don’t expect to fix ’em: The newest AirPods Pro add in active noise-cancellation and some subtle design tweaks. While the new earbuds are getting some great reviews, don’t expect to repair them: although they have replaceable parts, they are near-impossible to actually repair.
• Evidence mounts that iPhone SE 2 will land by early Spring 2020: Although Apple’s upcoming budget-minded iPhone likely won’t be the iPhone SE 2, Ming-Chi Kuo posits that it is imminent. He speculates that the device will enter production come January 2020 and launch by the end of March that year.
• Apple’s Tile competitor might be called AirTag: There have been lots of rumors that Apple will launch a tracking tag similar to the popular Tile products. Now, we have evidence to show that this product could be called the Apple AirTag, per some code in iOS 13 as well as trademark information.
• iOS 13.2 is allegedly too aggressive with background apps: The latest version of iOS apparently isn’t working too well for a lot of users. Complaints are mounting that the OS continuously closes background apps to save on memory and battery. This sounds like a problem Android users know about.
• Apple reports its quarterly earnings: Apple made its quarterly earnings conference call this week. As expected, the company posted incredible profits and revenue. In fact, this past quarter fared the best of any previous fiscal Q4 in the company’s history, with $13.7 billion in profit of $64 billion in revenue.
• An iPhone subscription system is possible: Speaking of the Apple earnings call, on that call, there was some discussion about the idea of moving iPhone sales to a subscription model. For example, say you paid $50 per month in perpetuity and that guaranteed you the latest iPhone every two years along with Apple News, Apple TV Plus, and other subscription products? It’s not the craziest of ideas, and Apple is considering it.
• Apple TV Plus launches today, exclusive shows take a beating: Today, Apple TV Plus — the company’s streaming media entry — officially launches. However, early reviews of the exclusive shows on that program are, in brief, not so good. “The Morning Show” and “See” both got panned, “Dickinson” got some middling reviews, while “For All Mankind” is the only show that actually received a good deal of praise.

Thinking about making the switch?

If you are reading this Apple news article on an iOS device and thinking about making the switch to Android, we have multiple articles and guides that can help you with that process. Despite how it might seem, moving from iOS to Android is easier than ever, and many of the services and systems on iOS have similar or even the same counterparts on Android.

The best place to start would be our guide on how to switch from iPhone to Android, which goes over all the basics. We also have more specific guides, such as how to transfer your calendar from iPhone to Android. We also have app guides that will give you the best alternatives to iOS staples, such as our list of best alternatives to FaceTime on Android.

If you’re looking for a great Android device to replace your iPhone, consult our list of the best Android smartphones available now.