Apple Stores Bracing for Crowds: New iPhones, iPads & MacBook Launching This Week

Apple is bracing for a busy week at its retail stores. Two products – the iPhone 17e and the iPad Air 2026 – were announced on Monday, and that’s just the beginning.

Long lines and full stores: it will be busy at the Apple Store this week. According to Apple analyst Mark Gurman, store staff have already been informed of a ‘big rush’ this week. And that has a good reason!

This week, Apple is releasing a substantial series of new products, which are being unveiled bit by bit from Monday, March 2nd to Wednesday, March 4th. In addition to a brand new iPhone model and an iPad Air, we expect more: a completely new and cheaper MacBook, and refreshes for the iPad Air and MacBook Pro.

What Apple expects a lot of attention for is the new MacBook 2026. This time not Air or Pro, but simply ‘MacBook’. It stands out with a smaller 12.9-inch display, trendy colors, a super-efficient A18 Pro chip, and a much lower price tag of around 800 euros.

Apple expects that the new laptop will attract many switchers who are currently on Windows laptops and Chromebooks, especially in the business and education sectors. This is helped by the fact that many competitors have increased prices to offset rising memory costs, while Apple can afford not to pass this on to the customer yet.

The iPhone 17e as well deserves attention. This new budget iPhone addresses the biggest shortcoming of the iPhone 16e, with the addition of MagSafe. It also has a faster chip.

The iPad and iPad Air will receive smaller upgrades. Both models will be equipped with a new chip – the iPad will receive the A18 (and therefore Apple Intelligence support) and the iPad Air will definitely have the fast M4 chip. The luxury versions of the MacBook Pro will also receive an upgrade in the form of the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

All of the above products are expected to be released early this week, from March 2nd to March 4th. Apple is expected to make an announcement daily at 3:00 PM. Follow the latest news on our website – and of course also via our newsletter!