Apple's Big Week: A Recap of All the Announcements So Far
Apple promised a "big week" of product reveals, and it certainly delivered. The tech giant has been making waves with a series of announcements, starting with the iPhone 17e, M4 iPad Air, and M5 MacBook Air, followed by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, MacBook Pro models, a refreshed Studio Display, and a brand-new 27-inch Studio Display XDR.
Here's a breakdown of everything Apple has unveiled so far this week:
iPhone 17e
Apple has given its entry-level iPhone a solid upgrade, keeping the starting price at $599. The iPhone 17e boasts double the base storage of its predecessor, the iPhone 16e, at 256GB. It also features MagSafe support with Qi2 wireless charging speeds of up to 15W, double that of the iPhone 16e.
Design-wise, the iPhone 17e remains largely unchanged from its predecessor. It retains the same 48MP Fusion camera system and a 6.1-inch Super Retina display with Ceramic Shield 2, offering 3x better scratch resistance and reduced glare.
Under the hood, the iPhone 17e is powered by the A19 chip, which supports Apple Intelligence AI tools and runs iOS 26. It also includes the C1X cellular modem, claimed to be up to two times faster than the C1 in the iPhone 16e.
The iPhone 17e is IP68-rated for water and dust resistance and promises all-day battery life. It supports satellite-powered features like Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages, and Find My.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 17e open on March 4, and it will be available in black, white, and soft pink. The device will be released in over 70 countries and regions on March 11.
iPad Air M4
The latest iPad Air features Apple's M4 chip, making it effectively one year behind the iPad Pro in terms of processing power. While the M4 is almost two years old, the top-end model has the newer M5 chip. However, for casual users, the M4 will still be more than powerful enough for tasks like watching shows, web browsing, and email.
Apple has increased the RAM from 8GB to 12GB in the latest model. Despite the recent surge in RAM prices, Apple has kept the prices consistent with the previous generation. The 11-inch M4 iPad Air starts at $599, while the 13-inch version starts at $799, both with 128GB of storage. There's a $50 discount for educational purchases.
The M4 delivers up to 2.3 times faster performance compared to the M1 iPad Air and over 4x faster 3D pro rendering with ray tracing performance. The new iPad Air runs iPadOS 26 and includes the N1 and C1X connectivity chips, making it the first iPad Air with Wi-Fi 7 support and 5G cellular connectivity.
The design remains unchanged, featuring the same LCD display, rear-facing camera, and dual-speaker setup as the previous models.
Pre-orders for the M4 iPad Air open on March 4, and it will be available in 35 countries and regions on March 11. The tablet will be offered in blue, purple, starlight, and space gray.
M5 MacBook Air
A year after the MacBook Air received an M4 chipset, Apple has upgraded it again with an M5 chip. The base storage has been boosted from 256GB to 512GB, with an SSD that Apple claims offers 2x faster read/write performance compared to the previous generation.
The MacBook Air still comes with 16GB of RAM as standard, but Apple has upgraded the memory to 153GB/s of bandwidth, a 28% improvement over the M4 MacBook Air.
However, these upgrades come with a tradeoff. The starting price of the M5 MacBook Air has increased to $1,099 for the 13-inch model, after being cut to $999 for the M4 version. The 15-inch M5 MacBook Air starts at $1,299.
The latest MacBook Air is available in sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver. Pre-orders begin on March 4, and it will be released in 33 countries and regions on March 11.
