What's up, everybody? Hey, Apple has officially announced their first event of 2026. It is happening on March the 4th in New York. We'll talk about what we can expect to see there, plus Apple releases iOS 26.4, the first beta, what those implications are. And the one thing we know we will not see at the event, the new version of Apple Intelligence. So you know what time it is. Let's get to the show. what's up everybody welcome welcome it's the apple bits excel brian tong here your host doing the most for everything good and bad inside the world of apple it is episode 369 and we keep on rolling here and the big news yes it is all about the apple event that has been officially made known to be happening in actually simultaneously in New York, London, and Shanghai on March the 4th. So we will talk about all that in just a moment. But first, hey, let's just do a couple orders of business, a little bit of house cleaning. 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So patreon.com slash Brian Tong is how you support. Okay, let's just jump right into it. And Apple sent out the official invites. I will tell you that I was fortunate enough again to get invited to what Apple is calling a special Apple experience. They're not calling it like a keynote. They're not necessarily calling it an event in New York, London, and Shanghai. This is going to take place on March the 4th, 2026, starting at 9 a.m. Eastern time. Now, here's the thing that I'm not sure about. I feel like because they're calling this an experience that potentially they might make announcements before the actual experience happens. March the 4th is a Wednesday, which could give time Apple to make some of these product announcements along the way. And these are happening in three major cities around the world. There is no further information about it. The invitation logo itself has this like 3D design of slices of glass that are colored blue to green to yellow that eventually form a Apple logo. And so we will see what happens, but let's talk about what we've been expecting. And I think what we will expect to see specifically at this event, I feel like this is all going to be about the new launch of that entry-level MacBook that we've been talking about where Apple strategically now has, we now have the actual chips and capabilities to make a streamlined MacBook for the budget consumer, for education, for enterprise. That doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The reports have been, if you didn't know already, surrounded about this new entry-level MacBook using an A18 Pro chip as the heart of it. Now, that chip is found in the iPhone 16 Pro, but this chip is more than ample to handle word processing, web surfing, email, do a little bit of photo stuff, do a little bit of video stuff. It is quite honestly more than capable and also power efficient. So this is the chip that we believe will be going into this low cost MacBook. The other thing, you know, we've been asking for colors forever from Apple. The reports are saying that this will have more playful color options that Apple has been testing, everything from light yellow to light green to blue to pink to classic silver and dark gray. Although Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says it's unlikely that all of these colors will ship. If you look at the base model entry-level iPad on Apple's website, I'm going to imagine those colors are going to be very similar to the colors that we will see here in this new entry-level MacBook. We'll call it entry-level, we'll call low cost, whatever you want. Now, the reports are that this will retail for not only under $1,000, but well under $1,000. Again, potentially an A18 Pro chip, no M-Series processor. It's also going to feature something slightly under a 13-inch display, so most likely 12.9. Most likely won't have the latest display tech. It'll have an aluminum chassis, but what's different about this is this is being built using a new and faster manufacturing process that Apple developed specifically to keep costs down. Maybe this is some sort of a unibody type one piece design. We will find out. But this is all about saving costs. And I really think if Apple wants to be competitive in this space, I always have to think, OK, yes, Apple does the Apple tax. I don't think this thing is going to be five hundred dollars. But are we talking about six $699, $749. I think $799 is the highest it should be. But if they really want to surprise people, what if we got something like $699? I mean, $599 just doesn't sound like what Apple would do, but I'm looking at $699 and $799 as the target for what this could be priced at. They are trying to compete with Chromebooks that are significantly cheaper, but But this product specifically has an opportunity to really take over the enterprise space, the education space, and the low-cost entry-level Mac space. Give it a few years, we know the build quality and the performance quality of Apple Silicon. I think this could be really, really compelling, and we'll see what that price is at. But I think that is the big flagship product that we're expecting to see at this event. not only though will it be macbook it will also be macbook pro now we saw earlier the m5 base model chip for a macbook pro 14 inch model released but that was it right we didn see anything else and obviously someone like me who looking at a more pro level machine is wondering hey what going on with the M5 Pro and the M5 Max Now this is a little interesting thing. And there's a lot of nuggets and steps that lead to maybe how this new M5 higher level chip may be different. Now, first of all, if you don't recall back in iOS 26.3's final beta, people were able to look inside the code and it revealed both the M5 Max and an M5 Ultra chip for upcoming hardware, but it did not mention an M5 Pro. Now, you wonder, okay, well, why is that? That's kind of awkward, right? That doesn't make sense, at least historically. Then you also look at what we've heard about Apple using a new brand new chip packaging process for this M5 that would specifically separate the CPU and GPU designs. Now, why is this important? Well, separating them could potentially give you greater flexibility when buying or configuring it. So someone could maybe choose a base model CPU and then go up for maxing out the GPU because they're separate, right? This could be the type of configuration we haven't seen before. Even Apple themselves, if you look at the current MacBook Pro page, remember before, used to kind of have these preset options with memory and the chip and the cores of the CPU and the GPU cores. And then you could tweak some of these other settings like storage capacity or or memory. Not anymore. You actually go line by line to customize this. And why do we think this might be? Well, that's because the rumors and reports are that, hey, the M5 Pro and M5 Max chip might actually be the same chip that can just be configured differently, which allow you to use a single chip SKU. It allows Apple to save costs from a design standpoint. it also allows Apple to save costs from marketing and creating different SKUs and putting them in different machines instead of just putting a single chip that can be configured more like an M5 Pro or an M5 Max depending on what you want. Now obviously if you're going to max out the memory you're going to max out the GPU cores essentially you're going to be getting an M5 Max chip but if you're choosing a different configuration and those CPU and GPUs are treated separately design wise then that could be really compelling and interesting so we don't know if this is really true they've been based on reports but it does add an interesting wrinkle to the m5 pro and m5 max configurations now will they even call it a pro or a max we'll have to find out about that as well But the latest code only showed an M5 Max and M5 Ultra chip in future products, which makes you go, huh, that's interesting. We also know that M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook stock is really low. It's pretty much dwindled down according to retailers and suppliers. So that also indicates a launch is coming very soon. All right. Now, what is the third product or I guess the third product that we might see here? That would have to be something that's complimentary to these MacBooks and something that hasn't been released or upgraded since 2022. And that, to me, would have to be the new rumored Apple Studio Display. Now, we're going to call it Studio Display 2. It's been already reported that it was expected sometime in the first half of 2026. there's been tons of rumors about this monitor lately but this is what we know or have heard about this new studio display all right so first of all it's going to look pretty much very similar to the current one so that you won't get any major design changes remember apple has the pro display xdr which is their high and large one and then they have the studio display which can still be used for professional use but it's a little smaller it has been rumored that this new studio display to will have a refresh rate of 90 hertz or higher now it might get higher to 120 but everyone's really leaning into no 90 hertz should be the case the previous model is 60 hertz also we know that this display 27 inch screen will reportedly have mini led backlighting HDR support, and that means deeper blacks, better contrast, brighter display, and better color. So overall, the display will be significantly be better. Okay, so if you haven't seen the improvement from LCD to mini LED on the MacBook Pros, that's what you're getting. And then there's another level step up from mini LED to OLED displays, but we expect this to be a mini LED backlit display with HDR support. And then also this display is expected to be bringing support with an A19 or A19 Pro chip to handle all the processing power to run this. And I've said this before, my hope is that they could use this display also as like a streaming set-top display, maybe like a secondary TV. I think there's a lot of young people, young professionals, maybe even college students that don't have the largest living space to give them the versatility to use this potentially as like a streaming device with an Apple TV like UI, I think that would be really cool. But will Apple do it? There's been no reports that they have. This has kind of been a pipe dream. But Samsung has done something similar with some of their displays where they're not only displays, but you can use them as a media set top box, essentially. So price wise, everyone is reporting that it should start around the same price at $1,599 potentially upgraded ports as well currently it's USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 my expectation would be maybe those or at least one of them will be bumped up to Thunderbolt 4 we will see what happens but at this Apple event my expectation is that we will see the new low-cost entry-level MacBook we will see the new M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models released. And then we will also see a new Studio Display 2. I could be wrong. There's other stuff that could be coming, but I'm pretty set that that would most likely be the products that we see. But again, there's a whole lot more that we could also see. Okay, so let's talk about some of those other products we could also see. I do not feel like this would be a showcase for some of the rumored smart home products that Apple has I think that that should go hand in hand with a Google Gemini Apple intelligence announcement at least formal announcement, public showcase of the technologies, and then lead into, hey, these are the products that take advantage of this new partnership. So I could be totally wrong, but I don't expect to see that. And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong because we don't know everything. But there are two other products that have kind of been in the back burner that have been waiting in the wings that Apple is ready to release in the next coming weeks. And those would be the iPhone 17e and an iPad Air with an M4 chip that has been reportedly ready to go in the coming weeks. I talked about it in the beginning that I feel like this could be a multiple announcement week, maybe something on Monday, something on Tuesday, something on Wednesday. and then we get to experience these products and see them in person potentially at this Apple experience event. So the report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is that the iPhone 17e is essentially ready to roll. It's going to be a spec bumped successor to the 16e. Rumors and reports claim this device will have four key upgrades over the 16e. Number one, MagSafe finally on the 17e. That was my biggest bugaboo my biggest complaint i said why didn't we put magsafe in the 16e it would have been nice they now have it in the 17e i think that's a little sketchy and shady because they could have put it on the entry-level model but they held out specifically for the next version i don't like that when the technology is available just give it to people that's what i think cost wise did it really make a difference i don't think so also an a19 chip instead of an a18 chip so that's the second upgrade. The third one will be the new second generation C1X modem instead of the C1 modem. And then Apple's new or recent N1 chip for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and thread connectivity. Those will be the four major changes. Cosmetically, it'll still basically be the same. A 6.1 inch OLED display, a single 48 megapixel rear camera. There were rumblings that they would get rid of the notch and have a potential dynamic island on here. If they're going to keep their costs low, they should still keep the notch. I'm not going to lie. They should just keep it if they want to keep costs low. So the iPhone 16E currently starts at $599 as a phone, a great starter phone. The 17E expected to start around the same price at $599. Now, if we look at the other product that I talked about, the iPad Air. There's not much difference that they can do. It's expected to basically just receive a speed bump from the M3 chip to the M4 chip. No other major announcements or changes have been rumored for the device. And these two announcements specifically feel like they would be perfect for an online announcement. You do not need to do any type of formal keynote type thing, right? Even arguably the M5 and M5, sorry, the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros, those might not need a big announcement. So look, if we stack all this up, we have three different MacBook models, one MacBook, two MacBook Pros, one potential studio display, and then an iPhone 17e and a M4 iPad Air. That's a pretty chunky, solid batch of announcements. Do we need more? I don't think so. I think that's a good chunk, but we will see what gets announced, what doesn't get announced. Maybe something different that I haven't even talked about enters the chat because we know that Apple has a whole bunch of products coming out and expected to drop in 2026. Now, we know one thing that is not going to drop. That is iOS 26.4 will not and has not launched with the new revamped Apple Intelligent Siri features. Now, there were early reports that that was what Apple was targeting sometime before WWDC, potentially in the spring, to launch the new Siri that was promised back in 2024 at WWDC, where it would have the ability to understand personal context. It would have the ability to connect the dots between your information and your apps to pretty much know what's going on in your life and present that and connect those dots for you. It would know and be able to see what's on screen and understand that context. And again, also include that in its knowledge base to connect the dots. It would also, the new Siri was reportedly going to be able to allow you to control specific functions in an app using your voice without having to launch the app. They call it like in-app actions or in-app intents. so none of that still made it to ios 26.4's first beta which released just released um we don't know when this new siri and revamped apple intelligence will happen i mean there was first you know a delay in march of 2025 and we knew they weren't going to make it now they never officially, officially committed to a new date. But up until this, I've said it now, I've been so let down by this. I've been so, I've been numb to Apple intelligence. I'll wait till they deliver. I'll wait till it's here. I'm not even anticipating it. I'm not even excited for it. They still have to really connect the dots with their Google Gemini partnership. There have been reports that the new version of Siri with Apple intelligence has been too slow to respond to queries, potentially not doing them very accurately, even still prioritizing the chat GPT responses instead of prioritizing Google Gemini to search for answers that you're asking and information on the fly. So they have work to do. It's only February. Technically, Apple has until December to meet its 2026 launch target that it publicly promised, okay? Even if the new features are delayed for Siri into iOS 27. iOS 27 still drops in September and they've been, you know, reluctant to push the new Siri debut beyond spring. So maybe iOS 26 happens because look, are they going to show us new, new features for iOS 27 with Apple intelligence? They need to play catch up. They need to get this right. They need to get it at least fundamentally decent. so people like me aren't rolling my eyes at it, just saying, who cares? Like, I'm at the point where I'm just like, eh, who cares? Might as well just use Google Gemini app or use ChatGPT But of course you want an integrated experience that is smooth So we will see But until up to this point there is nothing new about Apple Intelligence There's nothing new about Siri in the new iOS 26.4 first beta. But let's talk about that beta. There's a whole, this is an actually pretty robust update. So I kind of wanted to talk about some of the key features that will stand out and make sense. Now, we know about Image Playground in the first version of Apple Intelligence, where you could create some level of, you know, images, not the best, not the most advanced, but they're taking Apple Music and adding a new feature called Playlist Playground that lets users create a playlist with a text-based prompt. So I could say something like late night chill music or hip hop party songs or the best songs that define the 80s. You write that in or speak that in and then Apple Music can create playlists for you. So a little bit of a more organic way to request plays. And it is how we communicate, but that is something that is part of iOS 26.4. Apple Music also features a concerts near you feature. that is going to help you find shows near you. This one is exciting and something that I might try and pursue. I mean, I have so many things going on, not to mention, you know, having a new baby girl, but Apple Podcasts with iOS 26.4, they are now adding video podcast capabilities to the Apple Podcasts app. So this means the feature would use HTTP live streaming, all right? And it will allow you to have unprecedented control and monetization opportunities, also giving a high quality of viewing experience. But what you could do is bounce between watching and listening to the show in video or audio format with this new feature. So very cool. Maybe something I could worth trying and experimenting as maybe a goal in 2026 to see, hey, should we start doing a video version of this podcast and see what happens? Why not? Also, stolen device protection. This is now enabled by default before you had to opt in. But what makes this feature great is that, right? There were reports of people looking over your shoulder, learning your passcode, stealing your phone, typing in that passcode, and then getting access to everything from your bank accounts and access to your passwords and Find My. They could basically turn that stuff off or access them and not enable you to find your phone anymore. So the new stolen device protection is on by default and it requires an additional authentication through either Face ID or Touch ID to access certain iPhone features like the Passwords app or the Lost Mode in Find My or Safari purchases and more. So I really, really like this. Another one, end-to-end RCS encryption for messages. So we know that RCS was the big thing in iOS 26, right? better chats with our friends with the green bubbles a lot of better image quality just um the the ability to who i don't i think the blue bubbles thing is stupid but it is a thing and rcs messaging support at least help uh tame some of that down but it just makes using your messaging groups a little nicer but yeah still do you get the most out of the blue bubbles sure why not so that's that there's some new animations in the messages app like uh launching new conversations you can watch for that there's a new ambient music widget so this is to hear like white noise or wave sounds that you can actually you know to help you sleep or be prepared to be more productive that's there there's a new wallpaper and watch face gallery that has an updated design so it allows you to actually look at those categories like weather astronomy um or emojis and colors and download them to the phone. Other stuff that I like, you know, Health App includes a new average bedtime metric in the sleep section of the Health App, just giving you a better idea of how your bedtime can actually impact your activity. There's also a new audio zoom option in the camera app feature. So it focuses on the subject when the camera is zoomed in while recording video. This is really interesting. You can turn it on or off depending on the audio settings you prefer, but I do like that. Another one that people have been talking about, a new mention of Apple TV support for CarPlay. So that will eventually allow users to watch Apple TV content through their car's dashboard or display when the vehicle is not in motion. That is something new that we haven't been able to do before. Another small one that I like also before, there's plenty of others, but I just want to get through some big ones. Hotspot data. So Apple has moved the location of hotspot data usage when you use your phone like that. Rather than having data usage metrics just hidden away under the cellular, you can see how much data that you used right in the personal hotspot section. So a lot of different things. New emojis, of course, like a shovel and a harp and a fingerprint and radish and like a worn out, tired emoji face and a purple splat. uh sure there's like some bigfoot sasquatch there's an orca there's like an apple core ballet dancers there's there's a bunch of stuff you're just gonna have to dig around and find out but those are some of the features in ios 26.4 all right everybody that is gonna do it for this week's episode we always got to give big shout out to our patreon supporters at the platinum apple $100 level, Brandon Ledford, Gil Cabrero, Wesley Freider, Jared Lewis, Michael Gigliotti, Atari Koenigsegg, and Gregory Ford. Thank you so much for your continued support. And thank you to everyone who supports my Patreon at every level. It means a lot and allows me to keep on doing this independently. Patreon.com slash Brian Tong is how you support and it benefits you from not only this podcast, but really all the content that I put out. So that is going to do it for this week's episode. Yes, I've been kind of spreading out my episodes every two weeks just because I have a newborn, but I will get back in the routine in a few more weeks. Just managing that whole thing called sleep and constant overnights. I, yeah, it's real, man. The team no sleep is totally real, but it's an amazing journey and experience. So thanks so much for listening. Thank you so much for supporting everybody. We'll be here on the next episode. Roughly same bat time, same bat channel. I'll most likely get up one when I'm in New York that's when you'll hear your next podcast and that is in about what two weeks so buckle up maybe I'll get one in before then but until next time we'll talk to you soon take care and be safe it's the Apple Bits XL baby peace
