ExtraBITS for 19 June 2017
Apple Music is now offering a cheaper annual subscription, Ars Technica takes a look at macOS 10.13 High Sierra’s underpinnings, and Jeff Bezos just spent more at Whole Foods than you ever will.
Apple Music Adds $99 Annual Subscription Option — An individual Apple Music subscription costs $9.99 per month ($119.88 per year), but you can now save about 20 percent with Apple’s new $99 annual subscription. For some people, not having to account for monthly credit card charges will be an added bonus. Apple has made the new option a bit hard to find, but 9to5Mac explains how to get it. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t yet offer an annual subscription for family or student plans.
Under High Sierra’s Hood — As a refinement update, macOS 10.13 High Sierra doesn’t seem to offer much over 10.12 Sierra, but there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham takes a deep dive into the foundational improvements coming to High Sierra, including the APFS filesystem, the HEVC video and HEIF image formats, and the Metal 2 graphics API. Although most users won’t likely even realize these technologies are in play, they should make your Mac faster and more efficient.
Amazon to Buy Whole Foods for $13.7 Billion — Amazon has stunned the financial and tech worlds by announcing that it will acquire upscale grocer Whole Foods for an eye-popping $13.7 billion. We already knew that Amazon was testing automated convenience stores without cashiers, but the company has even larger ambitions. It seems likely that Amazon bought Whole Foods as a way of gaining access to 431 prime retail distribution centers. Internet wags have suggested that Jeff Bezos accidentally purchased Whole Foods through a muddled conversation with his Amazon Echo and
just decided to roll with it.