Apple’s next big iPhone launch is still almost a year away, but there’s plenty to look forward to between now and then.
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Cupertino’s finest are cooking up a bunch of rumored new products that are said to be launching in the first half of 2026. From new MacBooks and iPads to a new budget(-ish) iPhone, you may want to start saving up now. Here’s what we can expect from Apple in the next few months.
Apple’s head of UI design leaves for Meta
iPhone 17
Last year, Apple rebranded its budget-friendly iPhone SE line to the iPhone e-series with the launch of the iPhone 16e. It offered flagship-like specs in certain respects, but at a more affordable price, even if it wasn’t quite as affordable as the old SE phones were.
Rumor has it that Apple wants to annualize the e-series phones, like how Google does with its Pixel A-series lineup. That means we’ll most likely get a new iPhone 17e in the first half of 2026. Prominent leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo posted some information about the phone back in August. It will reportedly include a 6.1-inch 60Hz OLED display, the latest-generation A19 chip, and Dynamic Island support, among other things like camera upgrades.
We’ll see how much it costs, but this could be a great option for people who want all the newest iPhone software features without shelling out for the most expensive model.
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A new budget MacBook
One of the most intriguing devices on this list is a new budget-friendly MacBook laptop, set for launch in the early part of next year, per 9to5Mac. It’ll reportedly be powered by an older A18 chip instead of a more intensive (and expensive) M-series chip. The device will also allegedly cost somewhere around $599 or $699, making it by far the cheapest MacBook available. All of the other ones are $1,000 or more.
This could be Apple’s entry into the Chromebook tier of the laptop market, and it would be a welcome one, especially for someone like me. My MacBook Air is on its last legs, so a replacement may be in order. I imagine there are other people out there in the same position.
New big boy MacBooks
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a noted Apple prognosticator, reported in his Power On newsletter a while back that Apple is working on two new higher-cost MacBooks, as well. According to Gurman, we’ll get a new M5 version of the MacBook Air, as well as MacBook Pro laptops with more powerful M5 Pro and M5 Max chips inside of them.
These will almost certainly be very capable and powerful devices. Unfortunately, they’ll probably also cost a lot more than $599.
An A18 iPad
Lastly, iPad fans have something to look forward to in early 2026.
According to analyst Jeff Pu, in a note seen by 9to5Mac, a new entry-level iPad with an A18 chip inside of it is coming in the next few months. Sadly, the A18 part is the only concrete info we have about the device right now. It sounds like it’ll mostly entail internal spec upgrades rather than a wholesale hardware redesign. The new chip should enable Apple Intelligence support, though, if that helps.
