Sunday Reboot: Waiting a decade for Apple Pay and Apple Music

In this week’s Sunday Reboot, the expansion of Apple Pay and Apple Music to select countries has taken a decade longer than it should. These delays showcase how various factors can contribute to the lag. Sunday Reboot is a weekly column highlighting some lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past week.

I am one of the few editorial team members based in the United Kingdom, trained to write in the American style. This presents challenges when discussing Apple's new services, as not everything is readily available to me. While I have access to Apple Pay, I cannot use Apple Card because it is currently US-only. However, I have had to change regions for reporting purposes, and now my Apple Cash card is permanently visible in the Wallet app, something I cannot use.

Apple Music's availability in four countries after a decade is a testament to the challenges faced. These countries include Albania, Brunei, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan, despite its launch in 2015 in over 100 countries. The reasons behind this delay are unclear, but licensing negotiations likely played a role. Apple Pay's rollout in India, however, took nine years after its initial launch in 2014.

This was due to regulatory issues, including the country's Aadhaar ID system, which prompted Apple to abandon credit and debit card support. Despite these delays, Apple Music's availability in Albania and India demonstrates the lengths Apple is willing to go for certain markets, even if it takes years to overcome obstacles.