From iPhone 17e to Pixel 10a, the most exciting tech launches in February

Valve could also launch the Steam Machine, and I’m also looking forward to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

A new budget iPhone 17e could launch this month to replace the 16e (David Phelan/The Independent )

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Now that the new year is fully underway, there have already been significant launches. Many came from the CES trade show in Las Vegas, with striking innovations from Samsung, Plaud, Qualcomm and others.

There’s also been a flurry of announcements from Apple in the last days of January, with an updated AirTag 2, a new Apple Watch wristband and a suite of productivity and creativity apps all unveiled.

So, what does February hold?

Samsung returns with its flagship phones

First up, there’s Samsung again, it seems. It didn’t reveal its next flagship phones, the Galaxy S26 series in January like it did last year, so February seems like a shoo-in.

Rumours are flying that a mid-to-late month announcement is likely. Last year, the unveil took place in San Jose, California, but there’s no clue yet where this year’s event might be. One thing’s for sure, Samsung will announce its top-of-the-range phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, plus almost certainly two more phones to round out the range.

All-new Galaxy S26 phones are expected to launch in February (David Phelan)

Last year, there was the last-moment announcement of a super-slim version, the S25 Edge: does Samsung have another surprise up its sleeve this time around?

Apple’s budget iPhone 17e and a new chip for your MacBook

Then there’s Apple. We’ve had the new Apple Creator Studio suite of creativity apps which became available on 28 January. Now equipped with AI features, they are-designed to work together, with the video editing program Final Cut Pro and the music app Logic Pro, available in a subscription package for the same time.

Some had thought that the apps’ arrival would coincide with new hardware, specifically MacBook Pro models with the latest M5 Pro and M5 Max processors onboard, with the current MacBook Pro only available with the standard M5 chip. That didn’t happen.

The iPhone 16e launched in February last year (David Phelan)

But Apple is a creature of habit. Last year, it unveiled a phone, the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, 19 February. The iPhone 16e is the most affordable model in the iPhone range. Will Apple repeat itself and introduce the iPhone 17e on about the same date?

There are scant rumours of that just now, but it would have the effect of undercutting Samsung’s Galaxy announcement, so you can’t rule it out.

An all-new Google Pixel 10a

Google may also launch its next Pixel phone in February. The lowest-priced Pixel is the one with ‘a’ in its name. These phones were frequently launched in May alongside Google’s I/O conference, but last year, the Pixel 9a came earlier.

The Google Pixel 10a is heavily rumoured to launch next month (Google)

The latest rumours suggest that could happen again this year, with a possible unveiling around 18 February – slap-bang next to the Samsung and iPhone announcements, perhaps. Those rumours also suggest that the design of the 9a may be repeated this time around. Pricing is unknown but given that phone prices are expected to go up this year, not least because of memory shortages, the £499 price tag may not be preserved.

February is usually the time we can expect to see other smartphone announcements at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the major trade show for all things phone-related. This year, however, MWC falls a little later, running from 2-5 March.

A quiet month for gaming...or not?

There may be updates in the gaming world coming. Valve, masters of PC gaming with its highly popular streaming platform Steam, has announced that its small, cube-shaped games console called Steam Machine is coming.

The Steam Machine is a cube-shaped games console (Valve)

Valve said its “hardware family” would expand in early 2026, though there are other products in the pipeline, and the same concerns about memory chip availability could mean a delay for the Steam Machine, too.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Sony will hold another of its State of Play games presentations this February, as it has done in most of the last five years. If it happens, this will preview some of the most exciting PlayStation 5 games launching this year, and in years to come.

For more, we’ve rounded up all the Steam Machine rumours you need to know

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