If you've been online this week, you've probably seen Tim Cook's social media tease of a "big week ahead" for Apple. He wasn't overselling it. Apple is reportedly planning a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4, with at least five new products expected, making this one of the most product-dense weeks the company has had outside of its traditional September iPhone season.
Apple kicked off proceedings on March 2 with the iPhone 17e and iPad Air, with hands-on media events scheduled to follow in New York, London, and Shanghai on March 4. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple retail staff are preparing for a rush of buyers on par with what happens before the debut of new iPhones in the autumn, driven largely by excitement around the anticipated low-cost MacBook.
iPhone 17e: Iterative, But More Compelling This Time
The iPhone 17e is now official. As reported by Ars Technica, it's a relatively minor upgrade with the same price tag as the iPhone 16e. The headline changes are the A19 chip, MagSafe wireless charging, and a bump in base storage from 128GB to 256GB. Pre-orders open Wednesday, March 4, with availability in over 70 countries from March 11.
The iPhone 17e starts at AU$999 for the 256GB model, with pre-orders starting on March 5 in Australia. The A19 chip inside is the same family used in the standard iPhone 17, though the iPhone 17 Pro naturally has the more powerful A19 Pro. The modem also steps up: the C1X modem, as found in the iPhone 17 series, is reportedly twice as fast as the C1 while using 30% less energy.
The addition of MagSafe is the most meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. The lack of MagSafe was flagged as a major shortcoming when Macworld reviewed the iPhone 16e, so its inclusion here closes a real gap. The phone still runs a 6.1-inch 60Hz OLED display without ProMotion or Dynamic Island, and retains the single 48-megapixel rear camera. Perhaps the only surprise is that the iPhone 17e still does not have a Dynamic Island, which it was rumoured to receive.
Let's be real: the fundamental tension with the 17e hasn't gone away. At US$599, it sits just $200 below the standard iPhone 17, which offers a better camera system, a larger 6.3-inch ProMotion display, and a Dynamic Island. The doubled storage does narrow that gap, but buyers should weigh both options before committing.
iPad Air Gets the M4 Treatment
Apple also announced the new iPad Air featuring the M4 chip and more memory, giving users what Apple describes as a big jump in performance. Until now, the M4 chip was exclusive to the iPad Pro, so its arrival in the Air is a meaningful step, particularly for students and creative professionals who want desktop-class performance without the Pro price tag. The iPad Air M4 starts at $599, offering the M4 chip with 12GB of RAM.
A refresh to the base iPad is also widely expected this week. The A16 chip in the current base model does not support Apple Intelligence, but an A18 upgrade would mark a significant change, enabling the full suite of Apple Intelligence features for Apple's most affordable tablet.
The Budget MacBook: Apple's Biggest Wildcard
The announcement that has the tech world most excited is yet to come. The lower-cost MacBook will look broadly similar to a MacBook Air, but will be powered by the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro rather than an M-series chip, and will reportedly feature a slightly smaller 12.9-inch display. This would mark the first time Apple has shipped a MacBook running an A-series iPhone chip, blurring a line the company has kept firm since its transition to Apple silicon in 2020.
Based on the A18 Pro's specifications, the machine will likely have just 8GB of RAM and standard USB-C ports rather than Thunderbolt. It is rumoured to come in fun colour options including yellow, green, blue, and pink. Early estimates placed the starting price as low as US$599, though it is possible the laptop will start at US$699 or US$799.
For Australian buyers, that conversion will sting. Historically, Apple's USD-to-AUD conversion adds a significant premium: the iPhone 16e launched in Australia at AU$999, and a budget MacBook sitting well above that threshold would blunt the "budget" pitch considerably. The real test will be whether Apple can position this machine credibly against Chromebooks and Windows laptops in the sub-AU$1,500 space.
Sceptics have a fair point about the 8GB RAM limitation. Apple has spent recent years arguing that 16GB should be the minimum for any Mac. Equipping the budget MacBook with half that, in an era when Apple's own AI features devour system memory, raises questions about longevity. A machine that struggles to run Apple Intelligence smoothly in two years is not a great value proposition at any price.
The counterargument, and it is a strong one, is that a MacBook with the A18 chip would be more than powerful enough for day-to-day tasks like web browsing, document creation, video watching, and light photo editing. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple believes the machine will be an "incredible value" and may even convince Windows and Chromebook users to switch. That's the goal: a gateway product for the 80% of users who have never needed Thunderbolt or Final Cut Pro.
MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and Max Still to Come
For power users, the week's most relevant news may be the anticipated MacBook Pro refresh. Since the MacBook Pro M5 debuted last year, many were hoping to see M5 Pro and M5 Max models towards the end of 2025, and now their time seems to have arrived. The M5 chip is already up to 20% faster in multi-core CPU performance than the M4, and GPU performance is up to 30% faster. The Pro and Max variants are expected to raise those numbers further, with a chiplet redesign improving heat dissipation and enabling more CPU and GPU cores.
MacBook Pro M4 Max orders are reportedly delayed, a pattern Apple typically follows as it winds down outgoing models ahead of a launch.
What About Siri?
For all the hardware excitement, one notable absence stands out. Apple has hosted its "Apple Experience" events across New York, London, and Shanghai, but the inclusion of Shanghai effectively rules out any Siri-related announcements. Apple's AI assistant upgrade, long promised and long delayed, remains one of the biggest questions hanging over the company's AI credibility. Expect that story to resurface at WWDC later in the year.
What this week does show is that Apple is running a confident hardware operation even when its software ambitions are lagging. Five or more new products in three days is a signal to the market that the company's product pipeline is healthy. Whether the budget MacBook specifically lives up to its promise, and whether it is priced aggressively enough to actually matter in Australia's competitive laptop market, is the question worth watching when full details land on Wednesday.