Apple Card Deal
Apple Stock News: American Express and Visa are competing to replace Mastercard in servicing the Apple Card, while Mastercard is trying to keep its position. Apple plans to first choose a new network for the Apple Card and then replace Goldman Sachs as the card issuer. Visa offers a $100 million advance, while American Express is also involved in the tender. Apple is looking for a new issuing bank and payment network after ending its collaboration with Goldman Sachs, which is planning to leave retail banking. Contenders include JPMorgan Chase and Synchrony Financial, but American Express is also eyeing both roles. The partnership between Apple and Goldman Sachs started in 2019 with the release of the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account, but was marred by customer service issues.
Unique Health Sensor
@StellaFudge shared pictures of an alleged Apple Watch Series 10 prototype with an unusual health sensor. The prototype features fewer LEDs and an additional light ring around the sensor. The device was running an unreleased version of watchOS 11.1. The changes in the sensor might be related to testing new features like pressure monitoring, although their implementation in Series 11 remains uncertain.
iPad Pro
According to Gurman, Apple is developing an iPad Pro with an M6 chip and its own 5G modem, a base model iPad 12 with a new chip, and a MacBook Air with an M5 chip. The release of the iPad Pro with Apple’s modem is planned for 2027. The first iPad Pro models with the M5 chip are expected in October of this year. Models with the M6 chip and 5G modem could appear in the first half of 2027. The release dates for the base iPad and MacBook Air models are unknown, but they are tentatively scheduled for 2026.
