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Upcoming Apple Announcements Likely to Focus on Chip Refreshes

Apple's imminent series of announcements will focus on chip updates, rather than redesigned devices, according to a known leaker.


In a new post, the Weibo leaker known as "Fixed Focus Digital" said Apple's scheduled announcements for next week focus on refreshed devices with basic generational chip upgrades, rather than more fundamental redesigns.

Earlier this month, Apple invited the media to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. Today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased "a big week ahead," with announcements starting Monday.

Successors to the iPhone 16e, entry-level iPad, iPad Air, M4 MacBook Air, M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro, Apple TV, and HomePod are all rumored to arrive soon, offering little more than chip refreshes. The most significant new device in the immediate pipeline is the low-cost MacBook, which is set to feature an iPhone's A-series chip. Little is known about what the machine will look like beyond offering a 12.9-inch LCD display and a selection of fun color options, and there's a high chance it will re-use components from existing devices.

Apple devices with major new designs are still expected to arrive this year, such as the first foldable ‌iPhone‌, a smart home hub product, and the M6-series ‌MacBook Pro‌, but largely not until the second-half of the year.
This article, "Upcoming Apple Announcements Likely to Focus on Chip Refreshes" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Samsung Introduces Pre-Order Discounts on Galaxy S26 Smartphones, Alongside TV and Monitor Deals

Samsung this week debuted pre-orders for its newest line of Galaxy products, including the S26 smartphones and Galaxy Buds4. You can find a few early launch discounts on some of these products, plus discounts on Samsung's most popular monitors and TVs, with notable markdowns on products like The Frame TVs.

Galaxy Products


Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You can get up to $500 instant trade-in credit when pre-ordering the Galaxy S26, up to $700 credit for the Galaxy S26+, and up to $900 credit for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. If not trading in an older device, Samsung is still offering $150 in Samsung credit when pre-ordering each smartphone.




TVs




In regards to TVs, there are quite a few models of The Frame TV on sale, including all-time low prices on The Frame models from 2025. You can get the 2025 65-inch The Frame TV for $1,199.99 ($600 off), as well as the 75-inch Frame Pro for $1,999.99 ($1,200 off), a match of the all-time low price.





Monitors




Samsung also has a few unique monitor deals this week, offering a free copy of Resident Evil Requiem at no cost when purchasing select monitors. This includes the 27-inch Odyssey OLED G50SF Monitor for $349.99, down from $549.99, and the 49-inch Odyssey G95C Monitor for $849.99, down from $1,299.99. When you register these monitors after purchasing them, you'll get a download code for Resident Evil Requiem, which is a $70 value.





If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.




Deals Newsletter


Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2026? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!




Related Roundup: Apple Deals

This article, "Samsung Introduces Pre-Order Discounts on Galaxy S26 Smartphones, Alongside TV and Monitor Deals" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Teases 'A Big Week Ahead' With Announcements Starting Monday

Apple CEO Tim Cook today teased "a big week ahead," with announcements starting Monday. His post included an #AppleLaunch hashtag with a colorful Apple logo, along with a short video that ultimately shows an Apple logo on the lid of a Mac.


Apple is reportedly planning a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4, with up to five new products expected to be unveiled, including a lower-cost MacBook, an iPhone 17e, and more.

Other possible products include an iPad Air with an M4 chip, an iPad 12 with an A18 chip and Apple Intelligence support, a MacBook Air with the M5 chip, and MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. We are also waiting for long-awaited updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, but it is unclear if those are coming next week.

Apple already invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. During these in-person gatherings, attendees will likely receive hands-on time with the new products that Apple unveils between Monday and Wednesday next week.

A big week ahead. It all starts Monday morning! #AppleLaunch pic.twitter.com/PQ9gM2Gl2r

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 26, 2026

The products are expected to be announced in press releases published on the Apple Newsroom website, with no Apple Event live stream expected.

MacRumors will have in-depth coverage of Apple's announcements next week, and we will be attending the "Apple Experience" in New York.
This article, "Apple Teases 'A Big Week Ahead' With Announcements Starting Monday" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Samsung’s equivalent of Apple Intelligence in the Galaxy S26 seems very underwhelming

Samsung loves to launch new features before Apple, and it has partly done so with the new AI capabilities in the Galaxy S26. The latest version of Galaxy AI seeks to perform many of the same functions as Apple Intelligence.

As our sister site 9to5Google notes, however, the experience seems set to prove very underwhelming …

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Backed by Apple, Aliro 1.0 aims to do for enterprise access control what Matter did for the smart home

Enterprise access control is what I would consider “legacy” technology. A lot of the systems are Windows-based and look like a fancy Access database. On top of that, you are still dealing with physical cards. It is a fragmented mess for users and an onboarding nightmare for IT departments as well. Today, the Connectivity Standards Alliance is stepping in to fix that with the official release of the Aliro 1.0 specification aiming to create a standard for how mobile devices unlock doors, badge in, etc.

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Sketchy report claims Apple fell for Samsung negotiating ploy on memory

Apple almost always gets the better part of any negotiation with its suppliers, but a sketchy report claims that this wasn’t the case when it came to buying RAM from Samsung.

The report says Samsung had asked for a 100% increase in price, expecting to negotiate down to 60%, but Apple’s desperation was such that it agreed to the first demand …

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Apple Reportedly Agrees to 100% Price Hike on Samsung Memory Chips

Apple has agreed to pay Samsung twice as much for the LPDDR5X memory chips that it needs for ongoing iPhone 17 production, claims a report from Korean outlet Dealsite.


According to the report's sources, Apple recently held emergency meetings with Samsung's semiconductor division to negotiate delivery volumes of RAM for the first half of this year. The 12GB LPDDR5X modules used in the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro have already roughly doubled in price since early 2025, rising from around $30 to approximately $70.

Samsung is said to have originally planned to push for a 60% price increase on LPDDR5X modules supplied to Apple. Instead, however, Samsung opened with a 100% markup as a negotiating tactic – and Apple apparently accepted it on the spot.

If the publication's industry sources are accurate, Apple's immediate acceptance just goes to show how desperate smartphone makers have become to lock down memory supply. Chipmakers like SK Hynix and Micron have been redirecting production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI servers, and that has left mobile DRAM in extremely short supply.

Samsung's own mobile division isn't immune to the squeeze, either. The same report says initial Galaxy S26 production is using a 50/50 split of LPDDR5X from Samsung's semiconductor division and Micron, with both suppliers planning steep price increases after the first batch. Samsung is expected to raise Galaxy S26 pricing partly in response, while attempting to offset costs by using its in-house Exynos 2600 chip in roughly 30% of units.

Despite the cost pressure, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said Apple's current plan is to keep iPhone 18 Pro starting prices flat. On a recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that rising chip prices would have "a bit more of an impact" on gross margins, but the company still expects year-on-year revenue growth of 13% to 16% this quarter.
Tag: Samsung

This article, "Apple Reportedly Agrees to 100% Price Hike on Samsung Memory Chips" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Maps Launches F1 Tracks Guide Ahead of 2026 Season

Apple Maps has been updated with a new guide called "2026 Formula 1 Tracks Around the World," ahead of the new season which is being streamed exclusively on Apple TV in the United States.


Spotted by 9to5Mac within the Apple TV Formula 1 Channel, the guide offers an immersive way to explore the circuits, starting with Albert Park in Australia, with more 3D circuit experiences to be added as the season progresses.

The Albert Park circuit map highlights turn numbers, grandstands, and a three-dimensional model of the F1 pit building. The experience also doubles as a navigation tool for those attending the Australian Grand Prix, with walking directions to key locations.

The track is rendered with realistic kerbs, clearly labelled 3D grandstands and footbridges, and all 14 turns. Temporary pop-up locations pinpoint entrance gates and essential amenities, including restrooms, water stations, first aid points, and merchandise stands, with step-by-step walking directions to individual grandstands.

Several other tracks have been upgraded with new 3D graphics, but not yet to the extent of Albert Park. For a preview of what's changed, it's worth visiting the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Miami International Autodrome in Florida, the Circuit de Monaco, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, Silverstone in the UK, the Red Bull Ring in Austria, and more.

paddock
The 2026 F1 season kicks off in Australia on March 8. Last October, Apple and Formula 1 announced a five-year partnership including exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. The partnership allows ‌Apple TV‌ to provide comprehensive coverage of Formula 1, including all practice, qualifying, Sprint sessions, and Grands Prix.

At the time, Apple said it planned to "amplify" the sport across Apple News, Apple Maps, Apple Music, and Apple Fitness+. For example, the Apple Sports app will feature live updates for every qualifying, Sprint, and race for each Grand Prix across the season, along with real-time leaderboards, season driver and constructor standings, Live Activities, and widgets.
This article, "Apple Maps Launches F1 Tracks Guide Ahead of 2026 Season" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple in Talks With Banks to Launch Apple Pay in India This Year

Apple is in talks with major Indian banks as it prepares to introduce Apple Pay in the country sometime in the middle of 2026, reports Bloomberg.


Apple is said to be in discussions with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the publication.

The report corroborates a story in January by Business Standard that said Apple Pay was preparing to go live in the Indian market before the end of the year. The Times of India also earlier reported the India plans for Apple Pay.

Today's report says Apple is talking through the plan with global payment networks Mastercard and Visa. UPI dominates digital payments in India, and Apple Pay is expected to support the state-backed payments interface, which allows customers to instantly transfer money and bills.

Apple Pay launched more than 10 years ago, and is already available across 89 markets globally. Late last year, India's central bank approved new rules that allow biometric authentication like Touch ID and Face ID for digital payments. The country's authentication methods previously relied on one-time passwords sent over SMS messages.

The timing comes at a good moment for Apple in India. The company recorded its highest quarterly shipments in the country during Q3 2025, reaching 5 million units and securing fourth place in the market for the first time, according to IDC data. Apple is also rapidly expanding its retail presence in India, with a sixth store opening in Mumbai on Thursday.




This article, "Apple in Talks With Banks to Launch Apple Pay in India This Year" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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App Store and iTunes Store Experiencing Issues

Some customers are having problems with the App Store, Mac App Store, and iTunes Store, according to Apple's System Status page.


The three services have been experiencing issues since 7:22 p.m. Eastern Time. Not all users are affected, but if you've been having trouble accessing or downloading apps, the outage is the reason why.

We'll update this article when the problems have been resolved.
This article, "App Store and iTunes Store Experiencing Issues" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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9to5Mac Daily: February 25, 2026 – Touchscreen MacBook Pro rumors, Apple Card latest

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcherTuneInGoogle Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by BenQ: Check out BenQ’s smarter displays made for how Mac users actually work and sign up for the giveaway here.

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M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro: What to Expect

Apple is working on a new MacBook Pro that could launch next week ahead of the "Special Experience" planned for March 4, so we thought we'd highlight all of the rumors about the device so far.


Design


There are no rumors of design changes, and we are expecting the upcoming M5 ‌MacBook Pro‌ models to look just like the M4 versions. Apple will continue to offer 14-inch and 16-inch size options, both of which should come in M5 Pro and M5 Max varieties.

M5 Max and M5 Pro Chip


We already got the base model 14-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with the new M5 chip in October, so what we're expecting are upgraded 14-inch and 16-inch models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

The M5 family is built on a more advanced N3P 3-nanometer process from TSMC, and it offers speed and efficiency improvements. The M5 chip is up to 20 percent faster in multi-core CPU performance than the M4 chip, and we could see similar improvements for the M5 Pro and M5 Max chip options. GPU performance is up to 30 percent faster.

With the M5, Apple added a Neural Accelerator to each GPU core, improving the speeds of GPU-based AI workloads. The chip also supports third-generation ray-tracing, second-generation dynamic caching, and enhanced shader cores.

The 16-core Neural Engine is more energy efficient than before, and unified memory bandwidth has improved significantly. These are all features that we're likely to see with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as well.

Other Possible Updates


We haven't heard rumors about any other features coming to the ‌MacBook Pro‌ line. Apple did update SSD speeds for the M5 ‌MacBook Pro‌ models, so we could see the same upgrade to the M5 Pro and M5 Max machines.

Why You Shouldn't Buy an M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro


If you're not in serious need of a new ‌MacBook Pro‌ right away, early 2026 is a bad time to upgrade. The next-generation ‌MacBook Pro‌ after the early 2026 models is expected to feature an OLED display and touchscreen capabilities, both of which will mark a major upgrade in display quality. It's expected to include a Dynamic Island instead of a notch, and macOS will be optimized for touch interactions.

Most people shelling out extra money for a ‌MacBook Pro‌ with a higher-end M5 Pro or M5 Max chip need the extra performance or display quality, so it is worth waiting for the huge update that's coming.

The transition to OLED will also likely bring a design update along with M6 Pro and M6 Max chip technology, which is another reason to wait.

Of course, the new features could be limited to higher-end ‌MacBook Pro‌ models or could be significantly more expensive. If you're on a budget, need a Mac now, or don't care about OLED, the M5 Pro and Max models could still be worth considering.

Launch Date


The new ‌MacBook Pro‌ models could be announced via press release next week ahead of Apple's Special Experience.
Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Caution)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

This article, "M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro: What to Expect" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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macOS 27: All the Rumors So Far

macOS 27 is still months away, but there are already a handful of rumors about the upcoming software update, as outlined below.


We expect the first beta of macOS 27 to be seeded to developers during WWDC 2026 in June, and a public beta to follow in July. Following beta testing, the update should be released to all users with a compatible Mac in September.

macOS 26 is known as macOS Tahoe, but the name of macOS 27 has yet to leak.

Siri Upgrades


macOS 27 will reportedly include a full-out Siri chatbot that you can have back-and-forth conversations with. This would make Siri more like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Due to delays, macOS 27 might also include at least some of the personalized Siri features that Apple previewed all the way back at WWDC 2024.

For example, Apple showed a user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps. This functionality was previewed on an iPhone, but it will extend to the iPad and Mac.

More Apple Intelligence Features


Last month, Apple and Google announced that Google Gemini will help power future Apple Intelligence features, and that will extend beyond the more personalized version of Siri. However, exactly which features arrive remains to be seen.

Touch Interface



Bloomberg's Mark Gurman this week reported that Apple is preparing a touch-optimized version of macOS for the rumored MacBook Pro with a touch screen.

For example, if a user touches a button or control on the screen, the report said a relevant set of commands will instantly appear in a menu surrounding their finger. And if a user taps on an item in the menu bar at the top of the screen, the report said the controls will enlarge so they are easier to select with a finger.

Gurman expects the MacBook Pro with a touch screen to be released in late 2026, so these touch optimizations will presumably arrive in macOS 27. However, the changes might be hidden until the touch-screen MacBook Pro launches.

Improved Stability


macOS 27 will reportedly be similar to 2009's Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is apparently very focused on improving "quality and underlying performance." Apple is expected to implement many bug fixes and stability improvements, and there may also be some much-needed Liquid Glass design enhancements.

No Intel Macs


Last year, Apple announced that macOS Tahoe would be the final major macOS release for Intel-based Macs, meaning that macOS 27 will be compatible with Apple silicon Macs with the M1 chip and newer only. However, Apple will likely continue to release security fixes for some Intel-based Macs for at least a few more years.
This article, "macOS 27: All the Rumors So Far" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Samsung copies Apple’s Search button from iOS for One UI 8.5, shamelessly names it ‘Finder’

The Galaxy S26 trio is finally here, and with it comes One UI 8.5. Samsung might be waiting until the summer to roll out its next big shake-up for its version of Android, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t seeing some new visual elements in this mid-cycle release. As we’ve come to expect, at least one element on the S26’s software is ripped right from Samsung’s closest rival.

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