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 count on to see at Apple’s first launch occasion of 2026? We do not know something for sure, however now we have loads of educated guesses which have been sourced from business experiences and hypothesis from analysts.

Editor’s Be aware (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.

Funds-friendly MacBook

There have been rumors swirling that Apple is getting ready to launch a less expensive different to the MacBook Air. Bloomberg reported on this all the best way again in November. Trade rumors point out that Apple can be stuffing this laptop computer with an iPhone processor, the A18 Professional, to maintain the value down.

It is also been recommended that this laptop computer will solely embrace 8GB of RAM, which type of flies towards the corporate’s current stance to outfit all Macs with at least 16GB of RAM. Nonetheless, that would definitely assist with the 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 might be Apple’s biggest laptop launch in years, with potential preliminary shipments hitting 8 million models. The worth is more likely to be someplace within the $699 to $799 vary, which is fairly nifty. Nonetheless, I would nonetheless go for an Air at $999. They’re absolute workhorses.

MacBook Professional with M5 Professional and Max chips

It is doubtless that Apple will launch extra highly effective MacBook Professional fashions this yr 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 doubtless on the horizon. We might be getting new laptops outfitted with these chips in numerous show sizes.

There have additionally been experiences 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 lift the full 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 must also enable for the mixing of Apple Intelligence instruments, if that’s your bag.

As for that iPad Air, rumors counsel an upgrade to the M4 chip from the M3. An especially mild 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 yr in the past that Apple announced the iPhone 16e, so you realize what which means. It is time for a refresh. Current experiences have recommended that an announcement regarding the iPhone 17e is imminent, so this launch occasion looks as if pretty much as good a spot as any to disclose the newest “budget-friendly” smartphone.

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

Different Prospects

The next stuff is much less doubtless, although definitely attainable. There have been rumors that Apple is currently preparing a revamped Studio Show and Mac Studio desktop. The experiences counsel a launch someday within the first half of the yr, and March is true in the course of that timeframe.

It is also attainable 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 yr. In different phrases, it is a toss up.

What’s not a toss up? You should not count on something relating to the long-anticipated Siri refresh. This appears to be like to be a {hardware} occasion, so any software program updates will doubtless have to attend till WWDC this summer season. In any occasion, Engadget can be 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 Be aware with the newest information from Apple this week.