What happened
Apple announced the products one by one through press releases. On March 2 came the iPhone 17e and the iPad Air with M4. On March 3 came the MacBook Air with M5, the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max, and two displays. On March 4 came the MacBook Neo, which MacRumors covered as a low-cost Mac built on the A18 Pro, the chip from the iPhone 16 Pro. Pre-orders for most of the line-up opened on March 4. Apple's availability announcement confirmed that all of it reached stores on March 11.
The highlights, at launch prices:
- iPhone 17e, $599: 256GB base storage, MagSafe, the A19 chip and the C1X modem.
- MacBook Neo, $599: A18 Pro, 8GB of memory, a 13-inch screen, no fan and four colours. Apple called it its most affordable laptop ever.
- MacBook Air (M5), from $1,099: 512GB of storage as standard, double before, plus Wi-Fi 7.
- MacBook Pro (M5 Pro/M5 Max), from $2,199: new two-die chips, 1TB or 2TB of base storage, and Wi-Fi 7.
- iPad Air (M4), from $599: 12GB of memory and Wi-Fi 7, with the same design.
- Studio Display, $1,599, and Studio Display XDR, $3,299: both 27-inch 5K screens with Thunderbolt 5. The XDR adds mini-LED and up to 120Hz, and it replaced the much pricier Pro Display XDR, TidBITS reported.
What changed for buyers
That week changed Apple's prices at both ends. The MacBook Neo gave Apple a $599 laptop. That was $500 below the new Air, close to Chromebook and budget Windows money. The iPhone 17e made 256GB and MagSafe standard on the cheapest iPhone. Upgrades were bigger at the top: the Air and Pro had double the base storage, and the Air, Pro and iPad Air all moved to Apple's N1 wireless chip.
It also made spring a real buying season. Apple's cheapest iPhone, its mainstream laptop and its mid-range iPad were all refreshed at once. That's useful to know for timing.
Where things stand now (November 2026)
Every product from that week is still on sale. What's changed is price and what sits around them:
- Price rises in June. On June 25, Apple raised Mac and iPad prices, blaming memory costs, as ABC7 reported. The MacBook Neo went to $699, the MacBook Air to $1,299 and the iPad Air to $749. The 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro now starts at $2,499. According to TidBITS, the Studio Displays weren't affected.
- iPhone price rise in September. The iPhone 17e went from $599 to $699 when the iPhone 18 Pro launched, MacRumors reported.
- Neo education price. MacRumors added a note that Apple raised the Neo's US education price to $649 in October.
- MacBook Pro line-up grew. In late October Apple added a touchscreen MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display, from $2,899 with the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. It also replaced the entry M5 model with the 14-inch M6 MacBook Pro at $1,999. The March mini-LED models are still sold between the two.
So all of the spring line-up is still current. None of it has been replaced, but some of it is due. If Apple follows the same pattern, spring 2027 is when you'd expect new versions. Apple hasn't announced anything, so treat that as a timing consideration, not a promise.
Bottom line
March 2026 was one of Apple's busiest launch weeks, and none of it has been replaced. The MacBook Neo and iPhone 17e remain the cheapest current Mac and iPhone, but each costs $100 more than at launch. Check our price tracker and buy-now guide before buying. Our timeline shows where each model is in its cycle.
Found something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it and log the change on our corrections page.
