Aside from the launch of the AirTag 2 last month, it had been a quiet year for Apple so far. But all that changed this week with new product announcements every day so far and a “special experience” in London, Shanghai, and New York City on Wednesday.
Macworld is on site in New York City, and of course we’ve been tracking all of the announcements. So far that’s included the new MacBook Air M5, the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and Max, an iPhone 17e, the iPad Air M4, and even new Studio Displays. The star of the lineup is the low-cost MacBook Neo.
Wondering what other new products Apple is going to launch? Stay tuned to this page for full coverage all week long.
Apple March Experience live blog
Wrapping up
I’m going to step away from the live blog now. To reiterate a point I made earlier: we don’t expect any more announcements from Apple today, but if the company does have One More Thing up its sleeve the press release(s) should drop at 9am ET / 6am PT / 2pm GMT. That’s a little less than an hour from now.
We’ll continue to post links to our coverage of Apple’s new products as the articles appear on the site through the day, but unless something big happens (which we don’t expect) the live blog will be pretty quiet from now on. If something big does happen… well, I’ll see you in an hour.
We hope you’ve enjoyed following all the Apple announcements on Macworld’s live blog. See you on the next one!
Neo limits
Yesterday we discussed the numerous compromises Apple made in order to hit the MacBook Neo’s attractive price tag. Today we look at those in more detail, and help you work out which ones could or should be a dealbreaker.
My colleague Filipe Esposito has ranked the Neo’s missing features, from meh to ehhh.
How did we get to the MacBook Neo?
“We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk,” Steve Jobs said in 2008. The MacBook Neo doesn’t quite squeeze into that price category, but it’s not far off, and it’s definitely not a piece of junk. Apple figured out how to make a budget laptop, and it only took 18 years.
In his latest More Color column, Jason Snell describes Apple’s long, strange trip to the MacBook Neo.
The pros and cons of simplicity
Sergio Leone reportedly said that Clint Eastwood could only do two expressions: with the hat and without the hat. And the MacBook Neo is similarly limited. It comes in precisely two configurations: with Touch ID (which also means you get more storage) and without Touch ID. If you want more RAM, or a different processor, or a choice of screen size, or a nano-texture display, or any other change to the configuration, you are out of luck.
Still, even a small amount of choice can be tricky. As Roman Loyola explains, the toughest decision is whether to spend $100 on a button.
The missing iPad
We were promised at least five new products and ended up with seven. But one obvious name is missing from that list: the next version of the baseline iPad.
It’s important to remember that Apple doesn’t always update its tablets on an annual basis; sometimes an individual iPad model has gone two or even three years without getting a refresh. It’s absolutely possible we simply won’t get a new version of the baseline iPad this year. Here are the release dates of the last few generations, which seemed to be following a regular cadence until 2022:
- iPad (8th gen): September 2020
- iPad (9th gen): September 2021
- iPad (10th gen): October 2022
- iPad (11th gen): March 2025
The 12th-gen iPad isn’t guaranteed to come out this spring, then. But we’ve been hearing lots of rumors that it’s close to release. And Apple will be keen to get its most popular tablet on to Apple Intelligence and thereby increase take-up of its troubled AI platform. It doesn’t look like the iPad 12 will appear this week (the logical time for a press release would have been alongside the iPad Air M4 on Monday) but it surely won’t be long.
What have we learned?
Three days, seven products, countless tears of joy. It’s been emotional. Here are all the announcements we’ve heard this week.
- iPhone 17e: Gets MagSafe, but not a very good version of it. Still, it seems to be a good buy.
- iPad Air with M4: So boring Apple didn’t bother to properly update the website.
- MacBook Air with M5: A new chip and a price tag that’s simultaneously gone up and gone down.
- MacBook Pro with M5 Pro/Max: A bigger upgrade than we expected.
- New Studio Display: Thunderbolt 5, better sound quality, and a 12MP webcam.
- New Studio Display XDR: Gets mini-LED and ProMotion! Kind of a steal at $3,299, as weird as that sounds.
- MacBook Neo: A $599 bargain of a laptop. Summed up in one word: Whoa.
- iOS 26.3.1 and macOS 26.3.1: They’re out now.
Today's plans
After press releases for three days in a row, it’s unlikely that Apple will announce anything else today. (The last time Apple did a week of drops, it ended up lasting from Monday to Wednesday.) Assuming that’s the case, here on the live blog we can look forward to a rather quieter day. We’ll be providing more in-depth analysis of the seven new products, and explaining what they mean for you.
If Apple does decide to make it four days of announcements in a row… we can expect the press release(s) to drop at 9am ET / 6am PT / 2pm GMT. But it’s a long shot.
Welcome to day 4!
Good morning and welcome back to Macworld’s live blog. It’s still a little early stateside, but we’re sure our European readers will be keen to catch up on all the news from Apple’s big week of product announcements.
MacBook Neo: Here's what you DON'T get.
Sure, the MacBook Neo seems like a steal at just $599. And maybe it is! But Apple did have to cut some corners to get at that price.
iOS 26.3.1, macOS 26.3.1 released
Apple has released version 26.3.1 of its operating systems. If you’re planning on investing in a Studio Display, you’ll need to install this update, according to the release notes. It also includes security patches and bug fixes.
Apple
Studio Display compatibility
Apple announced the new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR on Monday, and perhaps you noticed the compatibility list for the displays. We got a little more clarification about this.
On the macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 requirement: The Studio Display and Studio Display XDR have deep integration with macOS, thus the version requirement.
On the lack of Intel compatibility: The displays require GPUs that can support the Display Stream Compression (DSC) and pixel rates required.
Macs that do not meet the requirements may “light” the displays and run with reduced capabilities.
Catch up on the announcement of the Studio Display and the Studio Display XDR.
Michael Simon/Foundry
Two Neo limit
There seems to be a limit as to how many MacBook Neos you can buy. Right now, customers are limited to two Neos. It’s not clear if this limitation will eventually be lifted.
Foundry
Also, Macworld’s Michael Simon, who is at the event in New York City, had a turkey and avocado sandwich for lunch. “It was good,” Simon reports.
Audio quality: Surprisingly good
Back to the MacBook Neo, and our initial verdict on those unusual side-firing speakers (of which there are only two, compared to four on the MacBook Air and six on the MacBook Pro) is that they sound better than you might expect.
“The speakers sound surprisingly decent,” reports Michael Simon. “It’s hard to judge bass in the room I’m in, but i could feel the vibration in the chassis.”
If you’re wondering about methodology, Michael notes that the test was based on a Justin Bieber song.
Summarising the new MacBook Air and Pro
If you missed yesterday’s announcements, here’s Jason Cross summarising the new M5 MacBook Air and Pro models (and the new Studio Displays, for that matter) in easily digestible video form.
Okay, so what's wrong with it?
When the company is charging just $599 it would be ridiculous to expect the MacBook Neo to be perfect. Of course there are compromises in the design, feature list, and specs list.
So let’s summarise all the ways in which Apple has cut corners to get that price down.
- Processor: The Neo comes with a phone processor, the A18 Pro, with 6 CPU cores and 5 GPU cores. The Air and Pro come with the M5 processor and up to 10 cores for both CPU and GPU.
- RAM: Just 8GB, with no option to increase this. The MacBooks Air and Pro both come with 16GB/24GB/32GB.
- Storage: Either 256GB or 512GB. The Air goes from 512GB up to 4TB, and the Pro from 1TB to 4TB.
- Display: At 13.0 inches, the Neo’s screen is smaller than that of the smaller Air (13.6 inches) and smaller Pro (14.2 inches). It also doesn’t get True Tone, and is sRGB as opposed to P3.
- Camera: You just get a 1080p camera, compared to the 12MP model on the other MacBooks. And there’s no Center Stage.
- Audio: There are only two speakers. The Air gets four, and the Pro six. And there are only two mics, whereas the other MacBooks get three each. Finally, the Neo does not support high-impedance headphones.
- Keyboard: Not backlit.
- Trackpad: Multi-Touch, not Force Touch.
- Ports: Two USB-C ports. One supports USB 3, while the other is limited to USB 2 speeds. There’s no MagSafe so you have to give up a USB port for charging.
- Touch ID: Only if you pay for the extra storage.
- Battery: Estimated battery life (up to 16 hours of video streaming) is lower than on the Air (18 hours) and Pro (24 hours). This is because the Neo only gets a 36.5Wh battery, compared to the 53.8Wh and 72.4Wh batteries on the smaller Air and Pro.
- Charging: Only comes with a 20W charger. The Air gets 40W and the Pro 70W. The Neo isn’t capable of fast-charging.
Apple's gonna sell a ton of these
Michael Simon has been spending time getting hands-on with the MacBook Neo, and the biggest thing that’s struck him is how premium the device feels. There’s nothing about it, he says, that feels like it should cost anything less than $1,000.
There is no spoon
When the Neo’s name leaked yesterday, it sounded a little like a joke. Would Keanu Reeves be in the audience today, we wondered. Would Apple’s target market of young customers even remember The Matrix?
Well, we’re not laughing now. Apple presumably wants the name to stand only for newness, but the Matrix reference stands up surprisingly well, because the new budget MacBook makes the most jaded of tech cynics rethink what is real and what is imaginary. As Michael Simon explains, it showed him everything he knows is a lie.
External monitor support
The Neo’s display is somewhat on the small side, but you can always connect an external monitor using one of the USB-C ports. (It has one USB-C 3 and one USB-C 2.)
Apple is keen to promote this concept, and at the event the company set up the Neo with the new Studio Display…
Michael Simon / Foundry
…and the new Studio Display XDR! That’ll be $599 for the Neo and $3,299 for the display, please.
Michael Simon / Foundry
The Neo's mystery "slots"
Much debate in the Macworld office about the mysterious slots on either side of the MacBook Neo’s chassis, one of which sits next to the headphone jack. At first glance we thought we might be looking at an SDXC card slot, but on closer inspection you can see the mesh that gives the game away. They’re speakers.
Michael Simon / Foundry
It’s an unusual design; the MacBook Air and Pro don’t have anything similar. The Pro’s speakers face upwards either side of the keyboard, while the Air has speaker grilles in the hinge.
A MacBook for $599? Whoa
Priced at $599/£599, the MacBook Neo is the lowest-priced laptop Apple offers, by some distance. It’s an amazing $500/£500 lower than the MacBook Air, following that device’s (debatable) price rise yesterday.
Roman Loyola has all the key facts and figures from Apple’s stunning MacBook Neo launch.
Can you manage with less battery life?
It’s to be expected that the MacBook Neo, starting at just $599, will have numerous limitations compared to the MacBooks Air and Pro. But here’s one that might hurt, given that it’s being sold as a helpful companion for students on the go: it has significantly less battery life.
Apple estimates the Neo’s battery life as up to 11 hours of wireless web browsing, or 16 hours of video streaming. Those numbers compare to 15 and 18 hours respectively for the 13-inch MacBook Air, and 16 and 24 for the smaller MacBook Pro.
Just 8GB of RAM
The spec sheet lists 8GB of RAM in the MacBook Neo, but doesn’t offer any more detail than that. You can’t configure things like RAM and the processor when purchasing; the Neo only has two configs, as mentioned below.
For comparison, the M5 MacBook Air announced yesterday comes with a baseline 16GB of RAM, and can be configured up to 24GB or 32GB.
Pricing in depth
We’ve mentioned that the MacBook Neo starts at $599. But we can now give a little more detail than that.
The price you pay is partly dependent on how much storage you want. But in an interesting twist, the more expensive configuration also gains access to Touch ID.
- MacBook Neo (256GB, Magic Keyboard): $599
- MacBook Neo (512GB, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID): $699
If you’re wondering why Apple would offer only two configurations (or SKUs), bear in mind that this sort of simplicity can make a device cheaper to manufacture at scale.
Pre-orders are open now, by the way.
Fun with fonts
Returning to that odd font. Here’s how Apple renders the name of the MacBook Neo on its website. It’s a chunkier, softer, thicker typography than we’re used to seeing from Apple. What do you think?
(A font expert told us that it looks to be a rounded version of Apple’s standard San Francisco typeface, but stretched, and this is supported by underlying code on the website.)
Apple
Port situation update
This may be important. The MacBook Neo has no ports on the right side. None. Zero.
Where are our bright colors?
There was a theory, ahead of the announcement, that the new MacBook would get color finishes to match the yellow, green, and blue in the invitation artwork (see above). Needless to say, we didn’t get any of them.
The Citrus is yellow, but doesn’t look any thing like the artwork when viewed in real life (although it looks more vibrant in Apple’s product art, below). There’s no green option, and indigo is, well, indigo–roughly halfway between blue and purple.
Apple
A closer look
Let’s look more closely at a MacBook Neo in the new Citrus color finish. It’s a lot subtler than that name would suggest.
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
First impressions in the hand
The Neo feels like a smaller, slightly thicker MacBook Air. Its Magic Keyboard and trackpad are great. Super light and feels like a $999 MacBook.
An excellent first impression.
MacBook Neo in pictures
First reactions? It looks good: classic and reasonably fun at the same time. The colors aren’t super bright, but they reflect the light very well and the matching keys are subtle and feel high end. Citrus is a bold choice, even if it isn’t super vibrant. Blush feels like another Apple pink that isn’t very pink.
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
It's actually cheap!
Apple is playing up the continuity features: Handoff and so on. It’s clearly still keen for us to buy other Apple products to go with the Neo.
And the branding is written in a really weird font in the marketing. We’ll get a shot of that as soon as we can.
Ah, here’s the price. It starts at $599! That’s a good $100 lower than the bottom end of what we expected, and doesn’t sound like a bad deal at all.
MacBook Neo confirmed!
It wasn’t misinformation after all. The leak was accurate; Apple is launching a new laptop product called the MacBook Neo. It’s totally new from the ground up. Some details:
- 13-inch display
- No notch
- White keyboard
- Model with Touch ID (not standard)
- 2 USB-C plus headphone jack
- 1080p camera
- Side-firing speakers with Spatial Audio
- 4 colors: silver, indigo, blush, citrus
- A18 Pro
- Keys match the color
- 16-hour battery
The presentation begins!
Trudy from the Apple product team is leading the presentation. And here’s John Ternus, Apple’s chip boss.
We’re not done yet, he says. Nearly half of Mac buyers are still new to the platform. Life is just better when you’re using a Mac (some Windows fans might disagree with that!). And he’s ready to announce…
Michael Simon / Foundry
Musical choices
They’re playing Aperture by Harry Styles to start us off. Read into that what you will.
Michael Simon / Foundry
It's almost time!
We’ve moved through to the main presentation area, which has a video screen. No Keanu Reeves as yet; the only celebrity we’ve spotted so far is Marques Brownlee.
More photos:
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Time for some breakfast?
Michael Simon is gathered with other journalists and influencers in the lobby of the Terminal Warehouse building in Chelsea, NY, waiting to go into another space. There’s a spread of light breakfast items, water, iced coffee, and juice drinks.
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Apple's special experience in pictures
With less than half an hour to go, Macworld’s Michael Simon is at Apple’s special experience in New York. Want to see what it looks like?
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
Michael Simon / Foundry
What the hell is a super core?
Yesterday’s M5 Pro and M5 Max announcements came with some new buzzwords, and Jason Cross is all kinds of triggered with Apple’s latest branding stunt.
Today's timings
When can we expect to hear about today’s new products? It could be very soon indeed.
For the past two days Apple has dropped press releases at 9am ET / 6am PT (which translates to 2pm GMT). That’s just over an hour from now.
The slight complicating factor is that today, unlike on Monday and Tuesday, there is an actual in-person event… sorry, “experience.” That takes place at exactly the same time we expect the press releases: 9am ET / 6am PT / 2pm GMT. Apple will probably announce the news to the on-site journalists and the world at the same time, before the lucky participants (including Macworld representatives) move on to hands-on sessions with the new products. Expect plenty of news, photos, and expert analysis from our reporters in the field.
The other time to set an alarm for is 9.15am ET / 6.15am PT / 2.15pm GMT. That’s when pre-orders for all of this week’s new Apple products will kick off.
Welcome to day 3!
Welcome and good morning to our U.S. and Canadian readers! It’s day three of Apple’s week of product announcements and we’re hoping for something pretty special today. The smart money is on the MacBook Neo, and there’s an outside chance we’ll see an A19 refresh of the baseline iPad.
A price cut, or a price rise?
Apple’s decision to increase the MacBook Air’s starting storage, which we learned about yesterday, is going to be divisive. Not because having more storage is a bad thing–obviously it’s not–but because it means the starting price has gone up too.
It could be argued that this was technically a price cut, because the 512GB SSD option now costs $100 less than before. But in real terms it felt like a price rise, because the 256GB option isn’t available any more; instead of starting at $999, the MacBook Air starts at $1,099.
Over on TechRadar, Lance Ulanoff argues that the change is not merely positive but “wonderful news,” reasoning that 512GB is now the bare minimum he needs. Some will agree, but I suspect that the Air has many admirers who don’t need much storage at all, or depend on the cloud.
For those who missed it, check out Roman Loyola’s detailed explanation of the new pricing.
M4 iPad Air performance benchmarks
The iPad Air which Apple announced on Monday comes with an M4 processor. But don’t make the mistake of thinking it’ll perform the same as last year’s M4 iPad Pro. As Apple acknowledges on its comparison page, the Pro model gets an extra GPU core and up to two more CPU cores.
Apple
How this will affect performance has become clearer with the emergence of Geekbench scores for the new iPad Air. Spotted by MacRumors, the numbers show the Air M4 performing almost identically to the iPad Pro M4 in the single-core test (3,714 vs 3,691) but noticeably worse in the multi-core segment (12,296 vs 13,663). This shouldn’t be noticeable in real-world use, but gives an idea of the margins between products that seem at first glance to have the same tech specs.
Expectations for today
As a quick recap, we’ve already heard about six new Apple products this week:
- iPhone 17e
- M4 iPad Air
- M5 MacBook Air
- M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro
- Studio Display
- Studio Display XDR
Today is likely to be the last day of announcements for the time being, culminating in the “special experiences” (read: hands-on sessions with all the new kit) in New York, London, and Shanghai at 9am ET. So what has Apple got in store for us?
The obvious product to finish on is the budget MacBook, which Apple seemed to leak accidentally with a regulatory filing yesterday. Based on that gaffe it looks like this device will called the MacBook Neo.
It’s also possible we’ll get the expected update to the baseline iPad, likely featuring an A19 processor. But the logical time to reveal that product was on Monday, alongside the new iPad Air. Perhaps Apple has decided to hold back the A19 iPad until later in the year.
Good morning!
Welcome to our European readers (plus any insomniacs in the U.S.) as we head into day three of Apple’s big week of product announcements. It’s just coming up to 9am here in London, and we’ll be with you throughout the day and across the timezones, bringing you all the news as it happens.
PSA: Preorders begin tomorrow morning
If you’re itching to buy one of the products Apple released this week—the iPhone 17e, M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air, M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro, or Studio Display—preorders begin at 9:15 am ET on Wednesday. It’s a strange time, but I assume it’s related to the “Experience” event that kicks off at 9 am. We also expect at least one more product to be available for preorder: the new cheap MacBook.
One more sleepless night!
There’s one day left until Apple’s “Experience” event in New York, London, and Shanghai. We expect to get our first look at Apple’s cheap MacBook (possibly named Neo). We’ll be on site in New York to document the whole event so bookmark us and come back tomorrow at 9am!
Studio Displays cut off Intel Macs
Apple’s new Studio Displays draw a line in the sand between Intel and Apple silicon once and for all. So if you want one, you’ll need at least an M1 Mac. And if you want to use ProMotion on the XDR display, you’ll need at least a Mac with an M4 or M2 Pro/Max chip. It won’t be long now until the Intel era is completely in the past.
Check out this retro reference in the M5 MacBook Pro ad
Apple has released an ad for its new M5 Pro and Max MacBook Pros, and if you look at the left side of the screen at the 1:25 minute mark, you’ll see an original Bondi Blue iMac. The rest of the ad is pretty good too.
OS 26.3.1 update coming soon
As expected, Apple will release an iOS/iPadOS/macOS 23.3.1 update to support all of the new products released this week. Apple’s Studio Display tech specs page lists macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 and iPadOS 26.3.1 as a requirement for running the new displays. The update will probably arrive early next week, ahead of the new products arriving on March 11.
More details about the MacBook Neo
Macrumors has dug into the leaked regulatory filing to get some additional details about the new cheap MacBook Neo. According to the filing, it will have two USB-C ports, MagSafe for charging, and Wi-Fi 7, though the site claims it will not have the N1 chip in the iPhone, iPad Air, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. That’s odd.
Still waiting for the iPad
Apple has already unveiled six new products this week:
- iPhone 17e
- M4 iPad Air
- M5 MacBook Air
- M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro
- Studio Display
- Studio Display XDR
We fully expect tomorrow to bring the cheap MacBook, but what about the iPad? Is Apple holding it back for tomorrow for some reason related to the MacBook? 🤔
Where are you, iPad?
Foundry
The 'cheap' MacBook comes into focus
Apple shuffled its entire MacBook pricing structure for two reasons: to help offset the rising cost of RAM and to make room for what we now think will be called MacBook Neo. Here’s what the new strategy means for the cheap MacBook coming tomorrow.
New MacBook pricing is complicated
Apple has increased prices across the board for the new M5 MacBooks, but it also lowered them? Wait, what? Yeah it’s confusing–we explain it all here.
The M5 MacBook stuck with Wi-Fi 6E
While Apple has brought Wi-Fi 7 to the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, M5 iPad Pro, M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air, and M5 Pro/Mac MacBook Pro, the M5 MacBook Pro still has Wi-Fi 6E thanks to its use of an older Broadcom wireless chip. It also misses out on Bluetooth 6 and Thread support. Bummer.
Apple's new Pro monitor doesn't have a terrible price
Alongside a simple update to the Studio Display that brings a better camera and Thunderbolt 5, Apple has unveiled a new Studio Display XDR display for professionals that is significantly cheaper than before—and comes with a stand!
MacBook 'Neo' incoming?
As spotted by Macrumors, Apple has filed a regulatory document with the EU for a laptop with the name MacBook Neo. Could Apple be introducing a brand new laptop line tomorrow, inspired by Keanu Reeves’ ‘Matrix’ character?
The MacBook Pro was worth the wait
Appe’s new high-end chips are a huge leap over the M4 models, offering greater customization, higher starting storage, and a powerful new architecture built for pro users. Read all about them before you can preorder them tomorrow.
A fully loaded MacBook Pro is actually a little cheaper
If you’re looking to get the most MacBook possible—16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro with a 40-core GPU, 128GB of RAM, 8TB of storage, and a nano-texture display, it’ll run you $7,349. That’s actually a little less than the same M4, which cost $7,549 previously. A bargain!
Apple introduces new Fusion Architecture for M5 chip
The M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro chips bring a new Fusion Architecture that Apple describes as a design that “combines two dies into a single system on a chip (SoC), which includes a powerful CPU, scalable GPU, Media Engine, unified memory controller, Neural Engine, and Thunderbolt 5 capabilities.” In addition, they contain the “world’s fastest CPU core” and “significantly boost performance by up to 30 percent for pro workloads.”
M5 MacBook Pros now start at 1TB
Apple eliminated the 512GB versions of the M5 MacBook Pro today, raising the starting storage to 1TB and prices by $100-$200 across the board. So you’re paying a little more but getting a lot more storage. For example, the 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro now starts at $2,199 ($200 higher than before) but you get 1TB of storage instead of 512GB (which cost $2,399 before).
The M5 MacBook Air costs $100 more
Apple’s new MacBook Air has an M5 chip, N1 wireless chip with Wi-Fi 7, and double the starting storage (512GB) with faster SSD technology, but it starts at $1,099 now. That’s $100 more than the M4 with 256GB of storage but $100 less than the M4 with 512GB of storage. So… yay?
$3,299 Studio Display XDR replaces $4,999 Pro Display
Apple unveiled two new 27-inch displays today, a new Studio Display for $1,599 that brings a 12MP Center Stage camera and Thunderbolt 5 ports, and a brand new Studio Display XDR, with an advanced mini-LED backlight with 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness, and 120Hz ProMotion for $3,299. It replaces the 32-inch Pro Display XDR.
Apple
New Macs are here!
Apple has unveiled the M5 MacBook Air, and M5 Pro/M5 Max MacBook Pro, along with a new Studio Display and Pro Display XDR. Full coverage to follow so stay tuned!
25 minutes to go!
Apple released the iPad Air and iPhone 17e at 9am ET yesterday, and we’re expecting thenew things to launch at the same time today, so get ready for something new in just half an hour. M5 MacBook Air? M5 Pro and M5 Mac chips? iPad with Apple Intelligence? Stay tuned!
Color me disappointed
The iPhone 17e has a number of limitations, including slower MagSafe charging speeds and a binned A19 processor. But the biggest disappointment for some analysts is the weakest pink in the history of tech. Take a look at Soft Pink:
Apple
More announcements on the way!
Hey everyone, it’s Tuesday, and we’re expecting Apple to announce its second round of new products at 9am ET, about two hours from now. New MacBooks will likely make an appearance today, along with the entry-level iPad. Get ready!
The new iPad Air isn't really new
The new iPad Air website looked familiar, so I went to the Internet Archive to look at the M3 site, and sure enough, very little has changed. If Apple doesn’t care enough to update its website, why should we care about buying one?
Apple adjusts trade-in values
If you’re planning to upgrade your iPhone, iPad, or Mac this week with one of the new models, you’re going to get a little less for your trade-in through Apple. Most are just a few dollars, but you’ll get about $150 less if you’re trading in a 16-inch MacBook Pro. You can check out the price for your specific model on Apple’s Trade In page.
Watch us break down the new products
Before we head off for the night, check out our roundup video of the M4 iPad Air and iPhone 17e. And we’ll see you all in the morning for round 2!
iPhone 17e video shows off new features
Apple has posted a minute-long iPhone 17e video that takes a different approach than its usual advertising. It features a voiceover running through the new features in a highly edited, scatterhot fashion. Watch it below:
OS 26.4 beta intrigue
This could be just a quirk unrelated to this week’s announcements, but Apple released the third OS 26.4 beta updates to developers today for iOS, iPad OS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS—everything but macOS. Could that signal that new Macs are on the way on Tuesday, and Apple is still working on it? We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see.
New iPhone case and strap colors!
Along with the iPhone 17e, Apple has announced a new set of colors for its accessories. The iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max silicone cases now come in Bright Guava (pink) and Vanilla (off-white), while the iPhone 17 silicone case gets an Electric Lavender (purple) color as well. The iPhone 17e silicone cases also come in Bright Guava and Vanilla, along with a new Soft Pink option to match the new phone. The same color options extend to Apple Watch bands and Crossbody straps.
Apple
Deal: M3 iPad Air for $150 off
If you’re shopping for a new iPad Air, you can save $150 on the 5G version of the 11-inch M3 model right now. That’s basically getting all-over wireless connectivity for free, and you’re not missing out on much compared to the new model. We don’t expect this deal to last very long (non-5G variants are already sold out), so go grab it if you want one.
iPhone 17e: It's not exciting but it's still a good deal
The iPhone 17e may not be a huge upgrade over last year’s 16e, but for most users it still delivers a good experience and value at a price that’s 25% less than the iPhone 17.
Lots more planned for this week
Apple announced the new iPad Air and iPhone 17e this morning, but that’s just the start of a very busy week. Still to come:
Plus, we could get a new version of iOS 26.3 to support the new products. We’ll have lots more coverage through today and the rest of this week, so keep this page open in your browser!
iPad Air: Heigh‐Ho, ho-hum
There’s not much to say about the new iPad Air, but it’s still a great tablet at a great price.
iPhone 17e: More MagSafe disappointment
David Price digs into the iPhone 17e announcement to separate the good (MagSafe, storage pricing) from the bad (MagSafe speeds, binned A19 chip).
Apple
Where's the iPad?
Apple updated the iPad Air today but didn’t release a new base-level iPad, which is also expected to get a chip refresh this week. It seems like the two models go hand-in-hand, so maybe Apple has something bigger for the entry-level model?
Even Apple can't find anything new about the iPad Air
Apple’s tagline for the iPad Air is, “Now supercharged by M4,” which is the same as before, when it was “Now supercharged by M3.”
Odd preorder time
The new iPad Air and iPhone 17e will be available for preorder beginning Wednesday, March 4 at 9:15am ET. That differs from the usual timing, which is traditionally on a Friday at 8am ET, but could be to coincide with Apple’s “Experience” event, which starts a 9am ET on March 4.
iPhone 17e tidbits
A few things I’ve noticed about the iPhone 17e:
- It has a 4-core GPU compared to the iPhone 17’s 5 cores
- It’s got a Ceramic Shield 2 front with 3x better scratch resistance
- Same 26-hour battery life
- It has slower 15W MagSafe charging
- It doesn’t have the N1 chip
No new colors for the iPad Air
Apple’s iPad Air is available in the same four colors as the previous two models: blue, purple, starlight, and space gray. Sorry, iPad Air fans.
That’s a picture of the M3 iPad Air, but you’d never know.
Apple
iPhone 17e is here too!
Apple’s new entry-level iPhone has the C1X modem, A19 processor, MagSafe, and double the starting storage (256GB). It also now comes in a new soft pink color in addition to black and white. But it still has a notch. It starts at the same price, $599.
Apple
The M4 iPad Air has arrived!
Apple has announced the new iPad Air with an M4 chip, N1 and C1X modem for 5G and WiFi 7, and 12GB of RAM for the same $599 and $799 starting prices.
30 minutes away!
The first round of new products should arrive at the top of the hour on Apple.com and the Apple Newsroom. iPhone 17e? iPad Air? MacBooks!? We’ll know soon.
First products expected at 9 am ET
Based on previous announcements, we expect Apple to unveil the first of its new products on Apple.com at 9 am ET (6 am PT/2 pm GMT). So stay tuned!
A MacBook under $599?
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple believes its new MacBook is “incredible value” and that it will “drive a serious number of switchers from Windows machines and Chromebooks.” This could just be Apple’s own hype machine at full tilt, but it could also signal that the new MacBook will be cheaper than we think. Could $499 be possible?
Apple Stores ready for big crowds
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple expects a “major rush” of customers at its stores following this week’s announcements. I assume that’s because everyone will want to check out the new low-cost MacBook, because I doubt people will be rushing to get a look at the M4 chip in the iPad Air.
Apple March 'experience' event: What to expect
While Apple is promising a week of announcements, that really just means Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But those three days will be filled with lots of new products. We’re expecting numerous updates to existing devices, including:
Welcome to the Apple experience live blog!
Starting this morning, Apple will unveil a variety of new products over the course of the next three days. We expect products to arrive at 9 am ET, so stick around for the news, come back for the analysis of what Apple releases, and check out our social media sites (Facebook, Threads, and Bluesky) to join the conversation.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.