Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple may announce new products through daily press releases leading up to a hands-on event on March 4.
- Expected releases include the iPhone 17e, updated iPads with A18/A19 chips, and new MacBook M5s using a gradual reveal strategy.
- This approach mirrors Apple’s launch of the M4 Mac in October 2024, allowing for more product announcements without lengthy unveiling events.
We now know the date of Apple’s next event: March 4. But as always, we won’t know the exact details or the products the company plans to announce until it decides to make that information public.
Unusually, though, there’s a good chance Apple will tell us about new products first and then host an event (or, to use the company’s preferred terminology, an “experience”). Because one respected pundit has theorized that Apple will announce the new iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks via press release on Monday-Wednesday of the same week, before journalists and influencers gather to get hands-on with the hardware.
John Gruber, writing on his blog Daring Fireball, reflects on the large number of Apple releases expected in the next few months. We’re waiting for the iPhone 17e, he notes, new versions of the entry-level iPad (with the A18 or A19 chip) and iPad Air (with the M4), the M5 Pro and Max MacBook Pro, the M5 MacBook Air and the rumored low-cost MacBook with the A18 chip. A lot can fit into one event. Maybe too much.
“It strikes me that March 4th — the ‘experience’ day — is a Wednesday,” Gruber writes. “So I’m guessing they’re announcing all of these products via Newsroom press releases every day. For example, iPhone 17e on Monday, new iPads on Tuesday and new MacBooks on Wednesday. And then the ‘experience’ will be a practical thing with personal demonstrations.”
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is generally keyed to Apple product launches, responded to X, saying Gruber’s estimate “is exactly what I expect based on what I’ve heard.” Gurman had previously said that Apple had planned to launch the product on the 2nd.
There is precedent for this kind of serial press release strategy. In late October 2024, Apple sent out announcements on consecutive days for the M4 iMac (October 28), the M4 Mac mini (October 29), and the M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro (October 30). The company even called it an “exciting week of announcements,” even though it only lasted three days and wasn’t particularly exciting, focusing only on the Mac section of its product portfolio. A week of announcements related to iPhone, iPad, and Mac could do a better job of qualifying this adjective.