Next week's Apple event may start earlier than expected — here's why

There's not long now until 2026's first big Apple event on March 4. But according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg's Power On newsletter, we may get the first pieces of news about the cheap MacBook, iPhone 17e and whatever else Apple's about to launch even earlier than that.

We have the March 4 date in our calendars already, but there are a few noticeable differences from usual Apple event announcements if you're a keen Apple watcher. As the newsletter notes, Wednesday has never been a typical day for Apple launches. Normally, the company prefers kicking things off on Tuesdays. Also, the invitation isn't for an "event," but an "experience," and contains no mention of the usual livestream we'd expect for a live event. All of this suggests that Apple might be trying something new this time.

What Gurman suggests this new plan will be is a "three-day-flurry of announcements," with products debuting on Monday 2nd, Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th. We assume this will be via press release and social videos, rather than a formal presentation each time.

The blitz of product launches will then perhaps be capped off by the in-person event Apple has already announced. This invite-only opportunity is presumably for select lucky attendees to get the first hands-on opportunity for whatever it is Apple has to show off, with three simultaneous events happening at locations in New York, London and Shanghai.

But what will we see?

The rumor mill has told us to expect a number of announcements from Apple next week, with the headliner perhaps being a brand new cheap MacBook using an iPhone/iPad A-series chip to offer efficient performance to those who need a Mac but don't want to spend the extra on an Air or Pro model.

This will be joined by the iPhone 17e, the replacement for the entry-level iPhone 16e that Apple introduced around this time last year. We're hoping for a few choice upgrades to make this a better value phone, but it's still going to be quite expensive for a "cheap" model.

We can also look forward to the iPad Air M4 and a basic iPad with an A18 chipset, plus new MacBook Pro models and MacBook Air models with upgraded chips, according to tipsters.

While they may not appear at this event, Gurman also suggests that a refreshed Mac Studio and a new Studio Display could be on the way in the coming months. That's because the current Mac Studio and Studio Display models are seeing shortages at Apple Stores globally, along with MacBooks, the iPad Air M3 and iPad 11 and the iPhone 16e. When availability starts to reduce for a specific Apple product, it's normally a good sign that a new one is close to launching. But we'll need to wait until next week to see for certain.

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