Apple News 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 12, 2026, 10:36 AM ET
Apple's 50th Anniversary
As Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary, CEO Tim Cook shared a letter macrumors.com reflecting on the company's "50 Years of Thinking Different." In related news, Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne will appear macrumors.com at an event tonight following the release of his new book, Apple: The First 50 Years. Further commemorating the milestone, the Computer History Museum will host a panel discussion 9to5mac.com later tonight featuring veteran Apple executives and journalist David Pogue.
MacBook Neo Launch
The new MacBook Neo officially launched macrumors.com with all configurations and colors available in Apple Stores, although some online orders are experiencing delays appleinsider.com. Early reviews are in, with MKBHD calling it potentially "Apple’s most disruptive product 9to5mac.com" in over a decade. The new laptop has a starting price of $599 and Apple Care+ repair fees are lower than all other Macs macrumors.com. A day-one software update is needed to get started macrumors.com. The machine is also missing fast charging support 9to5mac.com, although a beefier charger can help.
MacBook Neo: Features and Specs
The MacBook Neo teardown reveals a modular and repair-friendly design with a keyboard that can be replaced individually macrumors.com. The design includes a lot of battery, speakers, and trackpad 9to5mac.com. The MacBook Neo may also benefit from rising laptop prices 9to5mac.com in general, and analysts predict strong sales. The MacBook Neo's SSD speeds are slower than the new MacBook Pro macrumors.com, but it offers a range of colors appleinsider.com. The new laptop can also handle more demanding photo and video workflows 9to5mac.com than initially thought. ASUS executives called it a "shock to the PC industry macrumors.com".
MacBook Neo: Technical Insights
The MacBook Neo's design allows for mac OS to run on an iPhone processor appleinsider.com. Apple has updated its support documentation to confirm the maximum battery cycle count 9to5mac.com. While the MacBook Neo is a breakthrough at $599, it also has some compromises macrumors.com.
MacBook Air & Pro Updates
Amazon is offering the first cash discounts macrumors.com on the new M5 MacBook Air and M5 Pro/M5 Max MacBook Pro models. The M5 MacBook Air is praised for its performance and fast SSD speeds, but some reviewers criticize the higher price tag appleinsider.com. The MacBook Pro is set to receive a "major upgrade macrumors.com" with an OLED display by early next year. The new M5 MacBook Air and M5 MacBook Pro models have a new keyboard change 9to5mac.com, too.
iPhone Fold Rumors
Rumors suggest Apple's forthcoming foldable iPhone, potentially named the iPhone Ultra appleinsider.com, will operate like a cross between an iPhone and an iPad macrumors.com. The device is expected to offer several storage options, with pricing details reportedly leaked online macrumors.com. The iPhone 18 Pro models may not have a smaller Dynamic Island after all macrumors.com.
iPhone Production & Pricing
Apple has finalized plans macrumors.com for next year's entry-level "iPhone 18e" model. Apple boosted iPhone production in India by around 53 percent last year and now makes a quarter of its devices there macrumors.com. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that Apple plans to keep iPhone 18 Pro prices unchanged macrumors.com.
iPad Updates
Apple is helping customers to choose the right iPad 9to5mac.com. iPad OS 26.4 adds a key enhancement for multi-window users 9to5mac.com.
iOS Updates and Security
Apple released iOS and iPad OS updates macrumors.com for older devices to address the Coruna exploit. Apple has virtually eliminated the remaining addressable iPhones being targeted by the Coruna exploit appleinsider.com. Apple has detailed the security content for these updates, which address the Coruna vulnerability 9to5mac.com.
Apple TV and Entertainment
Weekly MLB games are set to return to Apple TV macrumors.com on Friday, March 27, for the 2026 MLB season. Jeff Daniels joins the cast 9to5mac.com of The Morning Show. Apple TV is also unveiling a new star-packed series based on a bestselling novel 9to5mac.com. Severance season 3 is coming soon 9to5mac.com.
Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade is adding three new games macrumors.com in April.
Apple Vision Pro
A passenger was told by a flight attendant to remove the Apple Vision Pro appleinsider.com. Apple Vision Pro owners will be able to take to the skies in the "X-Plane 12" flight simulator thanks to vision OS 26.4, which includes Nvidia CloudXR 6 appleinsider.com.
Apple Watch Updates
Apple's Air Tag's best feature is now on Apple Watch 9to5mac.com.
Accessories and Deals
Amazon has AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for $119.99 macrumors.com. Verizon has the AirPods Pro 3 available for $199.00 macrumors.com. Amazon is offering a big accessory sale macrumors.com on monitors, iPhone accessories, and more.
Software Updates
Apple is rolling out mac OS Tahoe 26.4 developer beta 4 9to5mac.com. The fourth iOS 26.4, iPad OS 26.4, and mac OS Tahoe 26.4 betas introduce nine new emoji characters macrumors.com. The latest iOS 26.4 beta adds a new ‘Reduce Bright Effects’ setting that disables various flashing elements 9to5mac.com. The colorful new wallpapers that Apple introduced with the MacBook Neo are available macrumors.com for all Macs in the fourth beta of mac OS Tahoe.
Apple's AI Initiatives
Apple trained an AI to recognize unseen hand gestures 9to5mac.com from wearable sensors. Perplexity is bringing its AI closer to its users, with a new Personal Computer that accesses your Mac mini's files appleinsider.com. Chat GPT is now able to identify songs using Shazam macrumors.com.
Industry Trends and Partnerships
Apple and Samsung tied macrumors.com for the top position in global smartphone production in 2025. EV maker Lucid is bringing Apple CarPlay support 9to5mac.com to its Gravity SUV starting tomorrow. TikTok and Apple announced new features macrumors.com for Apple Music on iPhone. The Apple Partner Discovery Tool will help businesses find resellers 9to5mac.com.
Other News
Apple's verification servers experienced an outage appleinsider.com. The new Rode Caster Video Core brings iPhone and Mac video switching appleinsider.com to a single hardware mixer. German media agencies are pushing regulators to fine Apple over App Tracking Transparency 9to5mac.com. Alt Store PAL update brings new social web features 9to5mac.com. The Valerion Vision Master Max is a super-premium 4K home theater projector appleinsider.com.