It may be more tempting to take that aging Mac you’ve been coddling and put it out to pasture soon. Apple has announced an event for March 4, which in usual Apple fashion, it has branded a “Special Apple Experience.” Also in usual Apple fashion, it has not come out and said what it’s going to be announcing. We have a pretty good idea, though.
The event will kick off at 9AM ET on March 4—Ars will be on the ground in New York City to cover Apple’s latest unveiling, whatever form it may take. Apple doesn’t release most products on a set schedule, but some recent speculation about likely hardware updates can point us in the right direction.
As we reported recently, the iPhone 17e may be making an appearance in Apple’s lineup soon. This updated version of the budget-oriented iPhone will have an A19 chip inside, similar to the one powering the base model iPhone 17. It may also add MagSafe charging. Don’t expect to see a multi-camera array like you’d get on the more expensive Apple phones, though. Pricing will be the most important thing to watch for should Apple announce this phone. Right now, the non-Pro iPhone 16 and 17 (including the 16e) are all clustered in the $600-800 range. Another $599 budget iPhone won’t make waves.
Apple may also drop new iPads, including a base model with an A18 chip and a M4-powered iPad Air. The processor upgrades may be the only changes of note for these devices, though. Add to that Apple’s tendency to disable CPU or GPU cores on low-end iPad chips, and the difference compared to old devices may be negligible.
The updates to Apple’s Mac lineup may headlining the event. Recent reports point to a long-awaited MacBook Pro chipset upgrade. Fans of Apple’s most powerful laptops have been aching for an upgrade path from their M4-based machines. Apple announced a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip last fall, but there was no M5 Pro or M5 Max option.
The rumor mill is now predicting 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Lots of folks will probably drop thousands of dollars on those machines as soon as they’re available. For the less demanding, rumors have also pointed to a cheaper MacBook with an A18 Pro chip, as well as an M5-powered MacBook Air.
We’ll find out exactly what Apple’s been cooking up on March 4.
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