With Apple Music at 20M Users, Spotify Hits 50M Paying Subscriber Milestone
Spotify this afternoon announced that it has hit a new milestone, reaching a total of 50 million paying subscribers. That's up from 40 million in September, suggesting Spotify is growing at a rapid pace despite the surging popularity of Apple Music.
As of December, Apple Music had over 20 million paying subscribers, and if the service has been growing at its typical pace, that number could now be somewhere around 22 million. Apple Music had 15 million subscribers in June of 2016 and 17 million subscribers in September of 2016.
Spotify is Apple Music's staunchest rival and over the course of the last year, the two music services have
clashed several times due to Apple Music's tactic using exclusives to lure new customers. Spotify in August made headlines when it allegedly started punishing artists who agreed to Apple Music exclusives, displaying their content less prominently and offering fewer promotional opportunities.
Spotify denied the claims, but the relationship between the two has grown increasingly heated as Apple Music's popularity grows. Both services are now testing new features and subscription models to attract new users.
Going forward, Apple plans to use original television programming to entice subscribers, debuting shows like Carpool Karaoke on Apple Music. Spotify, meanwhile, has recently started testing a lossless version of its streaming service to attract audiophiles.
Popular Stories
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week or two away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
