Apple is about to hold its first product launch event of the year — follow along live here

Apple is finally rolling out a new, redesigned remote for the Apple TV. It’s made out of aluminum and has dedicated buttons for navigating menus, which should solve some of the headaches caused by the earlier remote. It’ll ship in the second half of May with the new Apple TV 4K, which costs $179 or $199 depending on the model.

— Jessica Bursztynsky

Apple announced that its Apple TV 4K box has been updated with a new processor, and it will be able to handle high frame rate HDR video which will result in display smoother, more colorful sports events.

It will also include a new feature that will use the iPhone’s camera to tune the TV’s picture quality.

It also comes with a completely redesigned remote made out of aluminum with physical buttons, instead of the old remote’s touchpad. It can also control your TV’s power. Instead of a touchpad, it has a round wheel for controlling the display.

It starts at $179 for 32GB of storage. They go up for order on April 30 and will start shipping in the second half of May, Apple said. — Kif Leswing

Apple announced AirTag, calling it an iPhone accessory, priced at $29 for one or $99 for four. It will be on store shelves on April 30.

It uses Apple technology called Find My, which uses a network of iPhones to find lost objects and was opened up to third-party accessories earlier this month. It’s using a technique Apple calls “precision finding” that it says is privacy-sensitive.

This product has been the source of some scrutiny from lawmakers who have heard that Apple is privileging its own lost item trackers over theirs using anticompetitive practices and access to the iPhone operating system. Find My opened to third-party accessory makers last month. — Kif Leswing

It goes up for pre-order on Friday and will ship on April 30. — Kif Leswing

Apple announced that it’s launching its podcast subscription next month, putting itself up further against Spotify and other competitors in the audio streaming wars.

The company is also redesigning its Apple Podcast app.

— Jessica Bursztynsky

Cook said that Apple will allow partners and spouses to share a credit line on a credit card, allowing both people to build credit scores. It’s also introducing features for families and teenagers. Apple was notably under fire from co-founder Steve Wozniak after people discovered that sometimes spouses had different credit limits. — Kif Leswing

Walking around Apple Park, Apple’s campus in Cupertino in California, Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the event with factoids about Apple’s environmental efforts, saying that Apple is carbon-neutral and hopes to remove 1 million tons of carbon from the environment per year. — Kif Leswing

As Apple’s event kicks off, YouTube shows that over 360,000 people are streaming it on YouTube. Apple’s three launch events last fall each garnered millions of people watching live on YouTube. It’s also available streaming directly on Apple’s website, which isn’t counted in the YouTube numbers. — Kif Leswing

As Apple prepares to potentially release new iPads, remember that the product has had a great pandemic: In the fourth calendar quarter of 2020, Apple shipped $8.44 billion in iPads — which was up 41% year-over-year. — Kif Leswing

Apple is best known for its fall launch events, where it reveals new iPhones, but it’s no stranger to hosting somewhat lower-profile events in the spring.

Apple didn’t hold a spring event in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic and instead launched new iPads and other gadgets on its website. In 2019, Apple’s spring announcement focused on services like Apple TV+ and the Apple Card. But it also announced new iPads in 2018 during an education-focused event at a school in Chicago.

Last fall, Apple broadcast three pre-recorded product launch events in three months, each of which garnered millions of live viewers on YouTube. — Kif Leswing

One of Apple’s silliest traditions is, on the morning of an event, it pulls its online Apple store down, giving up a few hours of online sales in exchange to build hype for its new products. Apple has done this for years, and technology has certainly gotten to the point where Apple could update its store without downtime — it does it all the time — but why mess with a tradition? — Kif Leswing

I wrote yesterday about some of the tensions bubbling under the surface at Apple. Yes, this is just another product event, but there are a lot of headaches on the horizon that could threaten its growth, especially in the App Store.

There’s the war of words with Facebook over the impending iOS privacy feature. There’s the upcoming trial with Epic Games that centers on Apple’s control of the App Store. And then there’s Apple’s dependence on China, which is an obvious target for Apple critics. (Just ask Peter Thiel.)

Read all about it right here.

–Steve Kovach

Apple CEO Tim Cook is gearing up for Tuesday’s “Spring Loaded” event, where the company is expected to announce new iPads and potentially a handful of other products. “It’s a beautiful spring morning for an #AppleEvent! See you soon,” Cook tweeted.

— Jessica Bursztynsky