News

Apple’s March 4 Event Rumored To Put New Macs In Play

Lower-cost MacBook and M5 Pro upgrades expected as Apple lines up a multi-city hardware reveal.

Published

3 weeks ago

February 19, 2026

apple's march 4 event rumored to put new macs in play

Apple will stage its first product event of 2026 on March 4 at 9AM ET, hosting parallel gatherings in New York, London and Shanghai under the “Apple Experience” banner. The focus is hardware, with new Macs expected to lead the announcements.

The headline prospect is a cheaper MacBook, positioned beneath the MacBook Air. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple has been developing a model powered by the A18 Pro chip — an iPhone-class processor — rather than an M-series chip. The trade-off could extend to memory: industry chatter points to 8GB of RAM, even as Apple has shifted most of its Mac line to 16GB as standard.

Pricing is tipped between $699 and $799. If that holds, it would mark Apple’s lowest entry point into modern Mac laptops in years and widen its reach among students and cost-conscious buyers.

At the other end of the range, refreshed MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are widely expected too. Apple has already introduced a base M5 configuration, but the higher-tier variants typically arrive later with more CPU and GPU cores. Reports suggest tweaks to the chip design aimed at better thermals and improved manufacturing yields, potentially allowing the Max version to scale further.

Current M4 Max configurations are facing shipping delays, a pattern that often precedes a refresh cycle.

Tablets are also in line for updates. A 12th-generation base iPad is rumored to move from the A16 to the A18 chip, aligning it more closely with Apple’s on-device AI push. The iPad Air could shift from M3 to M4 — a jump that would narrow the performance gap with the Pro models.

Also Read: Samsung Reveals AI Camera Overhaul Ahead Of S26 Launch

On the iPhone side, Apple is expected to refresh its entry model with the iPhone 17e, roughly a year after the 16e debuted. Reports point to an A19 chip and possible MagSafe support, while keeping the $599 price.

Other hardware, including a new Studio Display or Mac Studio, remains possible, though less certain. A broader Siri overhaul is unlikely to surface here, with software updates typically reserved for Apple’s developer conference later in the year.

The March 4 event looks set to reset Apple’s core devices in one sweep — from entry laptops to high-end silicon — as competition tightens and AI features edge closer to the center of its pitch.

News

Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users

Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 27, 2026

Nour Nasir

Google

Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.

The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.

Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.

The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.

Also Read: RØDE Adds Direct iPhone Pairing To Wireless GO And Pro Mics

Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.

By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.

The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.