What to anticipate at Apple’s product launch occasion on March 4

Apple has scheduled a product launch occasion, dubbed an “Apple Expertise”, for March 4 at 9AM ET. The corporate is reportedly holding this occasion in NYC, London and Shanghai.

Everybody loves shiny new merchandise, so what can we anticipate to see at Apple’s first launch occasion of 2026? We do not know something for sure, however we’ve got loads of educated guesses which were sourced from business studies and hypothesis from analysts.

Editor’s Word (on March 2 at 9:45AM ET): Apple has formally introduced the iPhone 17e and iPad Air (M4). It is anticipated to proceed to unveil new {hardware} within the following days, per the remainder of this text.

Finances-friendly MacBook

There have been rumors swirling that Apple is making ready to launch a less expensive various to the MacBook Air. Bloomberg reported on this all the way in which again in November. Business rumors point out that Apple will likely be stuffing this laptop computer with an iPhone processor, the A18 Professional, to maintain the worth down.

It is also been advised that this laptop computer will solely embrace 8GB of RAM, which sort of flies in opposition to the corporate’s latest stance to outfit all Macs with at least 16GB of RAM. Nevertheless, that will surely assist with the associated fee. You may need heard about a bit factor referred to as AI that chomp chomps on all RAM it can find.

TechRadar has reported that this may very well be Apple’s biggest laptop launch in years, with potential preliminary shipments hitting 8 million items. The worth is more likely to be someplace within the $699 to $799 vary, which is fairly nifty. Nevertheless, I might nonetheless go for an Air at $999. They’re absolute workhorses.

MacBook Professional with M5 Professional and Max chips

It is probably that Apple will launch extra highly effective MacBook Professional fashions this 12 months and the timing appears to match up. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has suggested a March launch and the occasion is on March 4.

The corporate has already launched a MacBook Pro with an M5 chip, however each the M5 Professional and Max are probably on the horizon. We may very well be getting new laptops outfitted with these chips in numerous show sizes.

There have additionally been studies that each of the higher-end M5 chips are getting a redesign to assist enhance warmth dissipation and scale back faulty chip charges. Moreover, the brand new chiplet design would enable the M5 Professional and Max to boost the entire variety of CPU and GPU cores. The Max is predicted to have extra cores than the Professional.

This concept is helped alongside by the truth that MacBook Professional M4 Max orders are currently delayed. That is sometimes the case with an outgoing mannequin as inventory dries as much as make room for brand spanking new releases. Additionally, the Professional and Max variants sometimes get introduced within the Fall, so we’re due.

New iPads

Rumors have been circulating that we are about to get new iPads, together with an replace to the bottom mannequin and the Air. The usual mannequin, which might be the Twelfth-gen launch, is predicted to upgrade the A16 chip to an A18. This also needs to enable for the mixing of Apple Intelligence instruments, if that’s your bag.

As for that iPad Air, rumors recommend an upgrade to the M4 chip from the M3. A particularly gentle pill with an M4 can be pretty notable in my estimation, as solely the newest iPad Pro has that chip.

iPhone 17e

It was virtually precisely a 12 months in the past that Apple announced the iPhone 16e, so what meaning. It is time for a refresh. Latest studies have advised that an announcement regarding the iPhone 17e is imminent, so this launch occasion looks like pretty much as good a spot as any to disclose the most recent “budget-friendly” smartphone.

As for specs, Mark Gurman has advised that it will be getting an upgrade to the A19 chip, which is good. Additionally, it may very well be getting MagSafe assist. That feels like an iterative improve, however the worth is predicted to stay regular at $599.

Different Potentialities

The next stuff is much less probably, although actually potential. There have been rumors that Apple is currently preparing a revamped Studio Show and Mac Studio desktop. The studies recommend a launch someday within the first half of the 12 months, and March is correct in the course of that timeframe.

It is also potential that the corporate will reveal an improve to the MacBook Air with the M5 chip. Experiences point out that that is unlikely to occur throughout this occasion, however it’s value noting that the M4 Air got here out in March of final 12 months. In different phrases, it is a toss up.

What’s not a toss up? You should not anticipate something concerning the long-anticipated Siri refresh. This seems to be a {hardware} occasion, so any software program updates will probably have to attend till WWDC this summer season. In any occasion, Engadget will likely be readily available to report on all of Apple’s new merchandise.

Replace, March 2 2026, 9:45AM ET: This story has been up to date so as to add an Editor’s Word with the most recent information from Apple this week.