iPhone 16e
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This post, first published on Feb. 26 was updated on Feb. 27 with more details of what’s coming when.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook confirmed via a cryptic post on X that new products are about to land. The post, on Feb. 26, has revealed exactly when the first announcement will be made, which in turn makes it possible to figure out release dates for the updates. Here’s what’s happening, with details of what we can expect to see if Apple behaves in the way rumors have suggested.
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The post from Cook read “A big week ahead. It all starts Monday morning!” It was accompanied by the hashtag #AppleLaunch and a cool video showing the Apple logo taking shape in six seconds.
And, in typical Apple fashion, that was all. But that’s enough for it to be clear what’s going on.
The fact that the first announcement will be on Monday confirms what several commentators, including me, have been saying: that there will be daily product reveals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with the third one timed to coincide with the Apple “Special Experience” scheduled for 9 a.m. Eastern (6 a.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, March 4.
Apple likes consistency, so it seems likely to me that that 9 a.m. Eastern timing will be the same for all three days.
What to Expect: iPhone 17e, M5 Macs, And New iPads
The products, unless there’s a complete surprise, will be the iPhone 17e, a new entry-level iPad, an updated iPad Air and a series of Macs.
The first iPad will be the 12th-generation iPad, which it’s thought will replace the current A16 processor with an A18 chip. That’s important because the A18 is compatible with Apple Intelligence. It means that for the first time, every iPad will support Apple Intelligence.
“The A18 chip will come with another benefit for the iPad: 8GB of RAM. Apple’s current iPad with A16 only has 6GB of RAM,” 9to5Mac reported. It also said the Apple N1 wireless chip found in the iPhone 17 series could make its way to the new iPad. I don’t believe the design will change as it’s relatively recent, though it’s possible there will be new colors in the range.
The second iPad is thought to be an iPad Air, with an upgraded chip, thought to be the M4 instead of the M3 in the current model. Again, no design change is expected, except perhaps in the color range. If the Apple N1 chip is in the base iPad, you can bet it’ll be in the Air as well.
It’s possible the latest in-house modem, Apple C1X, could be in one or both of the new iPads.
The Mac releases should be a MacBook Air in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes with M5 processor, MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips and a new MacBook.
The MacBook is rumored to be a 12.9-inch display model (likely referred to as 13-inch) in bright colors and with an A18 iPhone processor which will allow Apple to drop the price much lower than the rest of the Mac laptop range.
The Predicted Launch Schedule
Since this is arguably the biggest news, I believe this will be held for 9 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, March 4.
Which means the iPhone 17e could go first, on Monday, March 2, leaving Tuesday, March 3 for the iPad and iPad Air. It’s possible the iPads could be the first announcement with iPhone to follow, but I don’t think so.
iPhone 17e Release Date Prediction
With announcements from Monday, pre-orders will begin around Wednesday, March 4, and I believe all the new products will gon on sale on Friday, March 13.