Last week Apple boss Tim Cook promised this would be a “big week” of product announcements, and the company has wasted no time in getting the ball rolling. So far today we’ve covered the iPhone 17e (pros: MagSafe and an A19 chip; cons: the MagSafe doesn’t get top charging speeds and the A19 is binned) and the 8th-gen iPad Air (different on the inside, identical on the outside), and we’re only a few hours into the week.
In fact, based on leaks and sources at Apple and in its supply chain, we’ve barely scratched the surface. Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman insisted that we would get at least five new products by the middle of this week, split across press releases on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That leaves us with a minimum of three more unveilings across two more days, and potentially more.
The big and surprising omission today was the next baseline iPad, which was expected to appear alongside the Air. Rumors indicate that the 12th-gen iPad will be just as workmanlike a refresh as its costlier sibling, featuring an A19 chip, Apple Intelligence, and a few minor iterative spec updates, so it isn’t clear why the company would hold it back for a later day. Has Apple got something big up its sleeve? Are we going to get a laminated screen at least? Probably not, but it’s something to watch out for.
The biggest story of the week will almost certainly be Apple’s new (and arguably its first) budget MacBook. Gurman says this is the one product this week that will actually look new, which might sound harsh on the iPhone 17e and its new Soft Pink color, but should be justified by a whole range of fun finishes. The artwork on the invitation for this week’s “experience” features the Apple logo in yellow, green, and blue, so it’s a reasonable guess that several of those colors will soon be adorning an aluminum machine. More important than the color, of course, is the price, which we discuss in depth here. (Spoiler alert: it might not be quite as cheap as you hope.)
And that’s only the start of the potential Mac launches coming this week. There are new MacBook Airs to release (with the M5 chip) and new MacBook Pros (with the M5 Pro and M5 Max). There could also be a new Mac Studio, and if we’re really lucky this will be accompanied by a new Studio Display.
The week is still young, and Apple has lots more to tell us about. At least three more products will be announced by Wednesday, and it could be as many as six. To keep up with the hype and excitement, bookmark our March announcements live blog, which will be running all week.
