It's nearly time for Apple's annual spring product refreshes. The tech giant has scheduled an event for Wednesday, March 4, inviting members of the media to New York, London and Shanghai for a "special Apple Experience" starting at 9 a.m. ET.
Apple's invites often contain clues about what might be revealed at the event. Last September's Awe-Dropping event invite teased the new vapor chamber cooling system for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models and a new pumpkin color.
The March 4 event invite features a three-dimensional shape composed of thinly sliced yellow, green and blue glass. A popular theory says it's a nod toward the retro rainbow apple logo from previous Mac branding, meaning new colorful MacBooks could be a part of the show.
While many events are hardware reveals, the "Apple Experience" will reportedly be a chance for members of the media to get hands-on time with the new Apple products. A bevy of new Apple products could be unveiled in the days leading up to this event. We expect to see a new iPhone and iPad early in the week, followed by new MacBooks before Apple's March 4 event. It doesn't seem like the most radical rumored new product in the MacBook lineup will make its debut during this event. Apple is likely saving some of its big, exciting redesigns for the annual September event.
Here's everything that we're expecting from Apple's March 4 event.
It's spring refresh season, which means the MacBook Pro is likely to get performance upgrades in the form of M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Lori Grunin/CNET
MacBook chipset refreshes (and maybe something entirely different)
We're expecting a whole host of new MacBook computers throughout 2026, but it's unclear whether they'll all be showcased during Apple's next event -- especially since several of the rumored products appear slated for release in the second half of the year. You should expect chip refreshes for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, as well as a few surprises.
The bread and butter of this spring product update will likely be the MacBook Pros. The 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro is already available, which means it's just about time for higher-powered MacBook Pros with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips to make their debut. We expect to see chipset upgrades for the standard 14- and 16-inch models on Tuesday, March 3 or Wednesday, March 4.
The MacBook Air is also rumored to get an M5 chip upgrade during the first half of 2026. While it may not hit store shelves as early as the new MacBook Pros, we might see Apple announce it next week, too.
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