Apple News 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 13, 2026, 1:34 PM ET
Apple Product Launches & Updates
Apple today launched seven new products macrumors.com including the MacBook Neo at $599, M4 iPad Air, and M5 MacBook Air, with launch day discounts offering up to $320 off MacBook Air models and $200 off M5 Pro configurations. The MacBook Neo teardown revealed a modular design with glue-less battery and zero tape, making it Apple's most repair-friendly Mac laptop yet. ASUS executives called the $599 laptop macrumors.com a "shock" to the PC industry, while former Microsoft Windows chief praised the Neo appleinsider.com as good enough to replace his MacBook Air. Early reviews from MKBHD described it 9to5mac.com as Apple's "most disruptive product" in over a decade, though testing showed SSD speeds up to 8× slower than the new MacBook Pro. The device will receive a day one software update macrumors.com with mac OS Tahoe 26.4, which also brings four new Mac features including enhanced window management and improved Safari performance.
iOS & Software Developments
iOS 26.4 launches soon 9to5mac.com with three new iPhone customization options, while iOS 26 itself added four daily-use features that users are already incorporating into their routines. The Passwords app became a full-time manager 9to5mac.com for many users thanks to iOS 26 improvements. Apple today released critical security updates macrumors.com for older devices, addressing the Coruna exploit that had been targeting legacy iPhones. Meanwhile, Anthropic's Claude experienced widespread outages appleinsider.com with login issues and slow performance affecting millions of users, though the company now reports the problems resolved.
Entertainment & Streaming
Apple TV premiered "Twisted Yoga" 9to5mac.com today, a rare true crime original series, while "Imperfect Women" receives positive early reviews 9to5mac.com ahead of its March 14 launch. The platform also aired the first 2026 F1 race macrumors.com following its exclusive streaming rights deal, claiming its first viewership victory over ESPN. Friday Night Baseball returns March 27 macrumors.com for the 2026 MLB season, and Apple Arcade announced three new games macrumors.com coming in April including Dredge Plus and Unpacking Plus. Disney+ launched vertical video 9to5mac.com in the US today, with global rollouts to follow, while TikTok and Apple announced new Apple Music integration macrumors.com featuring seamless song discovery.
Foldable iPhone Developments
Samsung Display will begin producing appleinsider.com foldable iPhone screens, with manufacturing ramping up for Apple's book-style foldable. The device will feature 12GB RAM macrumors.com supplied by Samsung, with DRAM shipments starting in Q2. Storage options allegedly include macrumors.com 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations priced at approximately $1,200, $1,400, and $1,600 respectively. A new leaker claims it will be called appleinsider.com iPhone Ultra rather than iPhone Fold, potentially launching alongside other Ultra-branded products. However, conflicting reports suggest the iPhone Flip may have been canceled, though other sources maintain it remains in development.
Corporate & Market News
Apple tied Samsung macrumors.com as the top global smartphone maker in 2025 with nearly identical production volumes. The company cut App Store fees macrumors.com in China to 25% from 30% starting March 15, while India considers new manufacturing incentives to shift iPhone production away from China. Apple launched an Instagram account macrumors.com expanding beyond its Shot on iPhone campaign, and CEO Tim Cook shared a 50th anniversary letter macrumors.com titled "50 Years of Thinking Different." The company temporarily closed macrumors.com its Grand Central Terminal store in New York for undisclosed renovations.
Accessories & Ecosystem
The Air Pods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation hit a low price macrumors.com of $119.99 on Amazon. Apple released repair manuals 9to5mac.com for the iPhone 17e, new Mac Books, and iPads through its Self Service Repair Store. The iPhone 17e launched on T-Mobile appleinsider.com with no trade-in required, while DIRECTV updated its iOS app 9to5mac.com with Sports Central integration. The Apple Invites app received a widget update macrumors.com for better Home Screen integration, and Alt Store PAL added social features 9to5mac.com including Fediverse integration.
Financial & Trade-In Activity
Apple saw an unusual surge macrumors.com in Mac trade-ins this week amid the MacBook Neo launch, with customers exchanging older models at unprecedented rates. The iPhone 17e vs iPhone 16 buyer's guide helps customers choose macrumors.com between the new budget model and last year's alternative, while Apple's pricing strategy for the iPhone 17e and MacBook Neo suggests iPhone 18 Pro prices macrumors.com will remain unchanged later this year.
Vision Pro & AR Developments
An Apple Vision Pro user learned flight attendants have final say appleinsider.com when told to remove the headset mid-flight, as no major US airline specifically bans the device. X-Plane 12 flight simulator will support Nvidia CloudXR 6 appleinsider.com in vision OS 26.4, bringing high-fidelity flight simulation to Vision Pro owners. Meanwhile, Perplexity's Personal Computer lets AI agents access appleinsider.com Mac mini files through a local app, blurring lines between AI assistance and device control.
MacBook Pro & Future Hardware
Ming-Chi Kuo predicts a major MacBook Pro upgrade macrumors.com with OLED display by early next year, while the MacBook Air with OLED remains years away macrumors.com. The M6 MacBook Pro rumored for later this year 9to5mac.com promises a total design overhaul with new features. A 2019 Intel Mac Pro beat an M3 Max MacBook Pro appleinsider.com in specific video workflows after extensive upgrades, demonstrating that specialized configurations can still outperform newer hardware in niche tasks.