Apple has officially invited certain members of the media to a special in-person event in early March, where it’s expected to clear out its cupboard of any overage before it can get to the ‘good stuff’ later this year. That means, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, we’ll likely see the new low-cost MacBook — which could prove to be a boon during these trying times — plus a couple ‘new’ iPads, and the iPhone 17e.
Big Mac attack
It’s that last one that interests us most, which follows up the budget-centric iPhone 16e. Debuting last year for a price far lower than Apple typically prefers to sink, the iPhone 17e promises to improve on its older sibling without upping the price. An A19 chipset is the main excuse for the upgrade, though the addition of MagSafe charging and Apple’s latest cellular chips is a bonus — especially if it does actually retain that $600 price tag.
The event is described as a “special Apple Experience” and will kick off on 4 March at 09h00 ET. That’s 16h00 for any watching Saffas who can’t manage to drag themselves to New York. Or don’t have an invite, for that matter. According to reports across social media, Apple will also hold similar press events in London and Shanghai. This won’t be your typical Apple affair. Hell, we may not even see Craig Fedherini leap ’round like a madman.
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If it isn’t a budget iPhone (for Apple, anyway) you’re after, how about a budget MacBook? Reports have detailed the company’s plans to stick an ageing iPhone chipset into a MacBook frame for months, and now it seems ready to start earning money. That chipset is the A18 Pro, which may well be competent enough to tempt users away from their dodgy Chromebooks. A 13.6in LCD screen is another way it’ll bring costs down.
Also on the menu are some new iPads and MacBooks toting new chipsets and… not much else. Proper redesigns are expected to debut later this year, but now isn’t the moment. Expect to see the M5-powered MacBook Air, while the Pro range will play with the M5 Pro and M5 Max. The iPad Air, on the other hand, gain the M4 chip, while the base iPad gets the A18. Finally, a fresh array of Mac displays is expected to tie everything up.
