Apple News 3d Briefing
×Hardware Launch
Apple macrumors.com launched the $599 MacBook Neo appleinsider.com with an A18 Pro chip, positioning it as an entry-level laptop built with significant recycled materials macrumors.com. The device supports only one external display and lacks Thunderbolt, though docks can expand connectivity appleinsider.com. Apple macrumors.com also confirmed the MacBook Neo, along with new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, ships without a charger in the UK and EU. Pre-orders began with some configurations, like the base model, selling out for day-one delivery 9to5mac.com. Walmart 9to5mac.com will carry the MacBook Neo, a move seen as validating Apple's strategy for the affordable notebook.
The new M5 MacBook Air 9to5mac.com starts at $1,099 with doubled base storage and an N1 wireless chip, while the M5 Pro 9to5mac.com and M5 Max macrumors.com MacBook Pros arrived with a new "fusion" architecture featuring three core types 9to5mac.com. The 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro appleinsider.com maxes out at $7,349, though unified memory upgrade costs were slightly reduced from previous generations. Apple macrumors.com also removed the 512GB RAM option from the Mac Studio amid a global DRAM shortage and dropped SSD upgrade prices for the standard M5 MacBook Pro.
Displays & Accessories
Pre-orders opened for the updated Studio Display macrumors.com and Studio Display XDR macrumors.com, which feature different A19 chips and support DICOM medical imaging presets. The new displays are incompatible with Intel-based Macs macrumors.com and require specific M-series chips for full 120Hz refresh rate support macrumors.com. Apple macrumors.com designed the new display boxes to be collapsible for easier recycling. A day-one firmware update is planned for both models macrumors.com. The launch effectively discontinued the Pro Display XDR appleinsider.com.
Software Updates
iOS 26 9to5mac.com brought a new Preview app and a Home Screen setting that tints app icons to match your wallpaper 9to5mac.com. Apple appleinsider.com introduced metadata tags allowing distributors to label AI-generated content in Apple Music. The company also released iOS 18.7.6 macrumors.com to fix an Australia emergency call issue on older devices, along with iOS 26.3.1 macrumors.com and iPad OS 26.3.1 9to5mac.com with bug fixes and Studio Display support. The third public beta for mac OS Tahoe 26.4 macrumors.com and mac OS 26.3.1 9to5mac.com were also seeded to testers.
Apple TV+ & Services
Apple TV+ macrumors.com became available as a premium subscription through the Roku Channel. Two new series were announced: the true crime docuseries "Twisted Yoga 9to5mac.com," exposing a sex trafficking ring, premieres March 13, and the French thriller "The Hunt 9to5mac.com" finally released after a plagiarism-related delay. The hit comedy "Your Friends & Neighbors 9to5mac.com" is returning for a second season. Separately, the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show headlined by Bad Bunny drew over 4 billion views, an all-time record 9to5mac.com.
Business & Policy
An industry group representing Apple 9to5mac.com voiced supply-chain risk concerns to the Pentagon over the U.S. government's designation of AI company Anthropic. Separately, Apple 9to5mac.com was reported to be geoblocking downloads and updates of ByteDance-owned apps in the U.S. Apple also discontinued seven products this week, including the 512GB Mac Studio configuration 9to5mac.com.
Industry & Competitors
Netflix 9to5mac.com acquired an AI filmmaking company after abandoning plans to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. Google 9to5google.com announced a switch to a two-week release cycle for Chrome, and Google 9to5google.com began rolling out a gradient icon redesign for Maps on iOS and Android. Google's NotebookLM macrumors.com AI tool now creates cinematic video overviews from notes. VSCO 9to5mac.com launched a standalone Galleries app to replace shared photo folders.