To see what went down in 2025, read the article here
2025 was a crazy year. The United States swore in a new president who immediately made significant changes, including those that have impacted the tech industry. Like merchant captains in the Foundation series, tech titans had to curtsy to the new king. For the first time in history, Apple gifted a golden tribute to curry favour with the president. And that’s just the politics part.
AI exploded in 2024 and went into overdrive in 2025. Key players started plowing billions into AI, building new data centers, and machines began competing for natural resources against humans. Speculation of a bubble begins to creep, with the dread of the even greater impact when it explodes.
So, what can we expect Apple to bring us in 2026? Certainly, new chips to power our beloved devices, hopefully a new product to excite us, and maybe big changes to shake things up. Certain challenges awaits us for 2026. Component prices rise due to the AI building frenzy, making Apple’s upgrade prices look reasonable. There’s also talk about a major leadership change in 2026. 2025 was a very interesting year, and 2026 is set to be another one.
Apple Events
There is talk about leadership change for Apple in 2026, but do remember, Apple is a very, very big ship. Even when you turn the steering wheel today, it will take months to turn the ship around. A lot of product research, development, and release have been planned for years. Apple products are not cutting-edge, but they produce high-quality consumer products. Their release schedule is buttoned down to a science.
| Season | Month | Expected | Actual Event Date | What Actually Happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | January / March | Mac updates: MacBook Air M5, MacBook Pro M5 Pro / M5 Max, iMac M5, Mac Mini M5 / M5 Pro, Mac Studio M5 Max / M4 Ultra | 26-Jan | New AirTags |
| 2-Mar | iPad Air M4, iPhone 17e | |||
| 3-Mar | Studio Display, Studio Display XDR (all-new), M5 MacBook Air, M5 / M5 Pro / M5 Max MacBook Pro, M5 Pro and M5 Max SoC | |||
| 4-Mar | MacBook Neo | |||
| Summer | May / June | iPad Pro M6, iPad, | ||
| Fall | September | iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Air 2, Apple Watch Series 12, new AirPods? | ||
| Winter | October | MacBook Pro M6, Other updates? |
Product Update
Apple announced new announcements every quarter while remaining low-key through the rest of the year.
Q1: M5 Leftovers Update
Apple creates a lot of successful products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. But they also create a lot of silent successful products like the ecosystem. One of the most recent successful silent products is the Apple Silicon. In the mobile space, it is the chip to beat. It was so good that it gave the most bang for your buck in terms of price/performance ratio.
The M5 was introduced in late 2025 for the MacBook Pro. We expect Apple to trickle down the M5 on their other entry-level Macs, like the Mac Mini, iMac, and the popular MacBook Air. If we are lucky, we might get a cheaper MacBook Air that is powered by an iPhone 17 Pro chip.
Apple most likely will introduce the higher-end Apple Silicon, like the M5 Pro and the M5 Max, for the MacBook Pro and the Mac Mini. Mac Studio might see an update with the M5 Max and possibly the M4 Ultra.
Q2: WWDC and Maybe Apple Glasses
In the hot summer month of June, Apple hosts their WWDC at their headquarters, Apple Park. The event mostly focused on software updates, although hardware updates do appear, although they haven’t for a while.
Apple now prefers to release new hardware updates around 1 month before WWDC. Here we usually see iPads being updated. Apple now introduces a new generation of Apple Silicon on the iPad Pro. Hence there will be a great change in a M6 iPad Pro. The M6 should be Apple’s (and the world’s) first consumer 2nm chip.
The big question is what Apple is doing with the Vision Pro. It has been known that the Vision Pro is a flop. Apple updated the Vision Pro in late 2025. The only update is the new M5 chip and a new strap. There was a buzz last year with Meta AI Glasses. So the question is whether Apple is going to hold steadfast on completely immersive VR glasses or go mainstream with light AR glasses. If Apple is going to introduce light AR glasses, it will be a major software change, which will be a session at WWDC.
Another question is what Apple is doing with its displays. Display Pro XDR was quite advanced when it was released, but display tech has also progressed. Will Apple finally update its displays?
Q3: iPhone, actually
September is the most important month for Apple. It is the time when Apple updates its best-selling product in history: the iPhone.
As far as sales figures go, the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro are a smashing success. It cannot be said the same for the iPhone Air. Despite all that, Apple will most likely update the iPhone Air to fix the “problems” in the first generation. Apple is still finding the elusive 3rd category of iPhones to boost its sales.
We might see new AirPods or other iPhone accessories at the event. The new Apple Watch is also a must.
Q4: M6, the first 2nm chip
Things will wind down by the end of 2026. Apple most likely will update the Mac line, introducing the new M6 chip on select models, just in time for the all-important holiday season.
In 2025, Apple gave a press release about putting M5 chips on the MacBook Pro. No fancy video, just a tweet here and there.
Conclusion
Big changes will come if Tim Cook decides to step down and make way for new blood. Of course, those changes won’t come fast, but sooner or later, they will make an impact.
Right now, AI is propping up the US economy. If the AI bubble decides to burst in 2026, a lot of things will change.