Apple Launches A19 iPhone 17e And M4 iPad Air With Major Performance Boosts

As expected, Apple has gone and refreshed both its iPhone and iPad Air lineup with new models, though the surprise is that it did not wait until its Apple Experience event that is scheduled for this Wednesday, March 4. Instead, Apple used the start of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026 to unveil two relative affordable product additions, both of which start at $599.

Starting with the iPhone 17e that has been the subject of leaks for months, the new entry maintains the same launch price as the iPhone 16e (see our review) that came before it but with some key upgrades, including double the baseline storage at 256GB. That alone is noteworthy, given that Apple managed keep the price same despite all the talk of an industry-wide shortage on memory and storage chips.

The other big upgrade is a jump to Apple's A19 processor, the same as found in the base iPhone 17. Like the A18 in the iPhone 16e, it's comprised of a 6-core CPU, 4-core CPU, and 16-core neural engine, though it features a newer architecture. Apple also specifically references "neural accelerators" underneath the GPU section on its iPhone comparison page.

"iPhone 17e combines powerful performance and features our users love at an exceptional value, making it a compelling option for customers looking to upgrade to the iPhone 17 family," said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing. "We know our customers want a product that will last, and iPhone 17e delivers just that. With A19 for incredible performance, double the entry storage, a smarter camera system, and enhanced durability, iPhone 17e is designed to stay fast, secure, and valuable for years to come."

The display is still a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR screen wrapped in an aluminum frame with an Action button on the side, but Apple is now touting upgraded Ceramic Shield 2 protection that it claims features three times the scratch resistance as the Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 16e. Both models are water resistant to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes.

Apple's new iPhone 17e also gets an upgrade to the company's latest-generation C1X cellular modem that is purportedly twice as fast as the C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, new MagSafe support with Qi2 charging speeds of up to 15W with a 20W adapter or higher (versus 7.5W on the iPhone 16e), and a 48MP Fusion camera system that appears to be the same as before, though Apple hints at upgrades such as "optical-quality 2x Telephoto."

The iPhone 17e is available to preorder now in black, white, and soft pink colorways starting at $599 outright or $24.95 per month for 24 months. It releases on March 11.

Apple is also rolling out a new generation iPad Air based on its M4 silicon at the same launch price as its previous generation M3 iPad Air. As configured, the M4 chip inside the newest iPad Air features an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU.

The company is also touting 50% more unified system memory than the previous generation iPad Air, which brings the RAM allotment to 12GB (up from 8GB). It bears repeating that this upgrade comes at a time when an AI-driven memory chip storage is wreaking havoc on the consumer market, so kudos to Apple for keeping the launch price the same as before.

According to Apple, these platform upgrades result in the M4 iPad Air being 30% faster than the M3 model and up to 2.3 times faster than the M1 model.

"The new iPad Air also features the latest in Apple silicon connectivity chips, N1 and C1X, delivering fast wireless and cellular connections—and support for Wi-Fi  —that empower users to work and be creative anywhere," Apple says.

Beyond the new processor and modem, the latest iPad Air is similar to the previous generation model. And as before, Apple is offering both 11-inch and 13-inch options starting at $599 and $799, respectively, for the Wi-Fi versions. For those who want cellular connectivity too, pricing starts at $749 for the 11-inch iPad Air and $949 for the 13-inch model.

Apple is accepting preorders now and, like the iPhone 17e, retail availability begins on March 11.