How To Set Up Unique Alerts for VIP Emails on Your Mac

Learn how to set up unique alerts when your emails are received from your VIP contacts on your Mac.

Currently, you receive new message notifications from VIPs in the native Mail application in macOS by going into your Mail's Preferences and selecting VIPs in the New message notifications dropdown list. This process works, but prevents you from receiving notifications for all other messages coming into your inbox. Another way to do this is to set up a rule in Mail that will play a specific sound or will bounce the Dock icon when you receive a message and the sender is in your VIP list. Let’s take a look how to do this.

Launch the Mail app on your Mac.
Select Preferences from the Mail menu bar.
Select the Rules tab.
Click Add Rule.
Give your rule a name in the Description field.
For ‘If’, select Any.
For the first condition, select Sender is VIP from the first dropdown list.
Under Perform the following actions, select Play Sound from the first dropdown list. (You can alternatively choose Bounce Icon in Dock also.)
Under Perform the following actions, choose a sound to play from the second dropdown list.
Click OK.
Click Apply.

You are done! With this new rule set up, you will now receive a unique alert for every VIP mail you receive that you'll be able to distinguish from regular new message notifications as they come through.

Apple's New Media Bundle Could Raise to a Trillion Valuation Again, Says Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley predicts that Apple can reach a trillion valuation if the company launches a media bundle in 2019.

While Apple recovers from its earnings call prediction earlier this year, many financial analysts are doubtful that the Cupertino tech giant would ever be able to repeat its feat of a trillion dollar valuation again. Morgan Stanley’s financial analyst Katy Huberty, who accurately predicted prior valuations, sees things differently.

Huberty shared her views on CNBC that Apple could see large growth if the company launches a media bundle this year consisting of music, television streaming and its new Texture news subscription. The bank targets Apple’s 12 month share price at $211 (AAPL).

This past Friday, Apple’s stock ended the week a little over $166 with a $785 billion market cap. Shares were roughly $206 apiece when the company reached its first $1 trillion valuation.

*AAPL as of Friday closing, February 1.*

The bank estimates that a new Apple media bundle could bring in another 2 percent annually to Apple’s growing services revenue to “drive a 5 percent revenue and 12 percent earnings per share (EPS) annual growth rate through 2023.” Apple’s ‘media bundle’ has been discussed in the media for a while, starting with a report in June 2018 via The Information claiming that Apple would be offering a possible one subscription model that included music, TV and news. The Texture built-into Apple News has been called a “Netflix for magazines.” Bloomberg reported in December however that the new magazine option had not been welcomed by advertisers.

On Tuesday of this week, Apple announced its earnings for the 2018 holiday season and last quarter, reporting $84.3 billion in revenue and $19.97 billion in profit.

Morgan Stanley predicts an increase in stock buybacks. This active buyback program along with a better knowledge of "the stabilization path for iPhone and impact of new services" will catapult Apple's valuation back past the $1 trillion mark. Huberty has previously commented on Apple’s services business back in November, predicting that Apple will expand its services division as the global hardware market contracts. She pointed out that Apple is "more engaged iOS user base and broadening portfolio of Services," compared to its competitors. Apple is thus expected to maintain 20 percent annual growth over the next five years overall due to the growing Services division.

“After repurchasing $8.8 billion of stock in the December quarter, below the prior $20 billion run-rate, we see a more active buyback program helping re-rate shares, as investors better understand the stabilization path for iPhone and impact of new services.”

— Katy Huberty, Morgan Stanley financial analyst

Huberty expects that iPhone growth will return and that replacement rates are at mature levels.

“iPhone replacement cycles now stand at mature levels suggesting a stabilization of growth is in the cards over the next year [commenting on Apple CEO Tim Cook’s remarks]. Management’s commentary that demand improved in January is similarly encouraging.”

— Katy Huberty, Morgan Stanley financial analyst

Huberty forecast $101 billion in Services revenue alone in 2023, a large increase from 2018 revenue of $37.2 billion. To understand these numbers in context better, it is helpful to look at Apple’s iPhone sales in the same year period. In 2018, Apple sold $112 billion in iPhone hardware in the U.S. alone. Hence, it is clear that the Services division is growing significantly.

Morgan Stanley has accurately predicted Apple's Services revenue growth over the last six quarters, more precisely than both Rosenblatt and Merrill Lynch who under-estimated Services revenue. Apple’s growing Services sector is expected to include video content, benefiting from Apple’s existing large subscriber base.

Apple's Acquisition of Texture Magazine and Upcoming Apple News Changes

Apple’s iOS 12.2 beta shows possible subscription-based Texture magazine functionality tied to Apple News

Last March, Apple's services chief Eddy Cue shared information about the acquisition at the SXSW media festival in Austin, Texas.

“We’re excited Texture will join Apple, along with an impressive catalog of magazines from many of the world’s leading publishers. We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users.”

— Eddy Cue, VP, Apple's Internet Software and Services

Texture, a subscription-based digital magazine app that provides unlimited access to over 200 digital magazines for $9.99 per month, is being integrated within the Apple News app. Texture currently provides access to popular magazine titles such as National Geographic, GQ, People, Vogue, Maxim, Wired, Sports Illustrated, Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stones, Men’s Health and more.

The service will likely boost Apple’s service division while offering a cut to publishers, and function in a way similar to Apple Music but be focused on magazines and news. The new magazine features are expected to complement ad-supported content within the Apple News app. Apple News is currently available in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada.

At Elf, we are launching our Elf channel on Apple News this month! We’ve been working on it for a while, and we hope you will love it. Our channel is ad-free. We provide high quality journalism and editorial content, gorgeous imagery and compelling photography.