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Leaker: Apple to Downgrade iPhone 18 in Two Ways

musicmachine said:
iPad mini ? (Once fold out will be gone)

Not sure how they’ll do the iPad line. Pro could become ultra, air specs would be pro and base to be Air. And base to be stripped down like 17e. And be called iPad Neo. Once fold is out no need for mini.
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Hard disagree on this. There will be use-case scenarios for iPad Mini.

There are some people who won't like the idea of foldables or hinges, either. The iPad Mini will still have a market.
 
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applefella said:
Hard disagree on this. There will be use-case scenarios for iPad Mini.

There are some people who won't like the idea of foldables or hinges, either. The iPad Mini will still have a market.
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I’m basing my opinion on a report that suggests Ternus will be similar to Steve. Consolidation was one of Job’s initial moves. Additionally, we didn’t anticipate the iPod to go away either, but the iPhone effectively eliminated the iPod line, much like I believe the fold and touchscreen MacBook will do to the iPad line. I still believe there’s a market for iPads, but I think there won’t be as many options.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he drastically saved the company from bankruptcy by ruthlessly slashing its product line by 70%—reducing dozens of projects down to a simple, focused "4-product grid" (one laptop and one desktop for both professionals and consumers).
Key actions that turned Apple around included:
  • Cutting Inventory: Jobs cut inventory by over 80% to cut costs and simplify manufacturing.
 
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transpo1 said:
Smart how they're putting out low-end products like the "MacBook Neo" so that when they put out the "MacBook Ultra" people can't accuse them of being out of touch and only making expensive products for the elite.
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The Neo may be the least expensive Macbook in Apple's lineup but some Macbook has to be. But the Neo is not "low end" as in junk. It just the least expensive.
 
Who cares, you’re not going to trick me into panic-buying the iPhone 17. No matter how much of a “downgrade” it might be, those chips are a waste of sand, even previous generations are capable. You should only upgrade when your device is no longer supported by latest iOS, as security outweighs performance.
 
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I7guy said:
The Neo may be the least expensive Macbook in Apple's lineup but some Macbook has to be. But the Neo is not "low end" as in junk. It just the least expensive.
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Correct-- I should have said "low-cost." Seems like a very fun computer!
 
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musicmachine said:
I’m basing my opinion on a report that suggests Ternus will be similar to Steve. Consolidation was one of Job’s initial moves. Additionally, we didn’t anticipate the iPod to go away either, but the iPhone effectively eliminated the iPod line, much like I believe the fold and touchscreen MacBook will do to the iPad line. I still believe there’s a market for iPads, but I think there won’t be as many options.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he drastically saved the company from bankruptcy by ruthlessly slashing its product line by 70%—reducing dozens of projects down to a simple, focused "4-product grid" (one laptop and one desktop for both professionals and consumers).
Key actions that turned Apple around included:
  • Cutting Inventory: Jobs cut inventory by over 80% to cut costs and simplify manufacturing.
Click to expand...

Steve Jobs is dead. Move along.
 
Even before this announcement, I was really on the fence about replacing my 16 Pro. I didn't like the rumored colors, and the reduced Dynamic Island. The only thing I was excited about was the variable aperture, but if these rumors are true, I'm definitely keeping my 16 Pro. Besides, by the time Sept. rolls around, I have a feeling that everything will be costing more and delivering less. I buy my phones outright, so I have to have a compelling reason to upgrade and dish out all that money.
 
JPack said:
Why the doubt? Does money and profit grow on trees?

When was the last time DRAM and NAND prices shot up by 400-500%?

Keep in mind the base iPhone hasn’t had a price increase since iPhone 12 in 2020. Something has to give. Apple already tried the n-1 chip route with iPhone 14 and 15. People hated it. Now, they’re doing a 6 month delay with iPhone 18 to reduce chip costs and let Pro users absorb it first. There’s no way to magically absorb $50-$100 in materials costs given the DRAM/NAND price jumps.
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Yep, and there are other factors. This latest war will cause manufacturing in general to rise. Petroleum is not just used for the gas in your tank, and will result in higher costs for almost everything. Helium, used in semiconductor manufacturing, is also at a shortage now, and of course, AI is using all the available RAM it can get.
 
If we're talking about iPhone - I wish Apple would release a MagSafe case with 5 pogo pins in the center of the magsafe circle, (along with a "speck click lock" area) connected to a ribbon that transfers energy directly from those 5 pins up into a built in USBC port that goes up into iPhone. and they could sell a corresponding 6k qi2 battery with those 5 pogo pins in the corresponding location. It could be backward compatible with magsafe/qi2. even though the pogo pins on the battery and the case would be kinda proprietary at first, since it's still compatible with regular qi2, the added pogo pins would only be a *benefit* and not a drawback. Except for a small extra cost upfront ($10-$20 extra compared to regular qi2?), the benefits of using the case with its corresponding battery would be beneficial enough (50 watts of energy directly into the phone battery to charge it from 20 percent to 80 percent in 30 minutes while it's being actively used) that the proprietary nature of the solution would *not* be like moto mods and die out, but instead could actually be a forward thinking solution to add value to the mobile device industry.
 
applefan8254 said:
If we're talking about iPhone - I wish Apple would release a MagSafe case with 5 pogo pins in the center of the magsafe circle, (along with a "speck click lock" area) connected to a ribbon that transfers energy directly from those 5 pins up into a built in USBC port that goes up into iPhone. and they could sell a corresponding 6k qi2 battery with those 5 pogo pins in the corresponding location. It could be backward compatible with magsafe/qi2. even though the pogo pins on the battery and the case would be kinda proprietary at first, since it's still compatible with regular qi2, the added pogo pins would only be a *benefit* and not a drawback. Except for a small extra cost upfront ($10-$20 extra compared to regular qi2?), the benefits of using the case with its corresponding battery would be beneficial enough (50 watts of energy directly into the phone battery to charge it from 20 percent to 80 percent in 30 minutes while it's being actively used) that the proprietary nature of the solution would *not* be like moto mods and die out, but instead could actually be a forward thinking solution to add value to the mobile device industry.
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Whaaat?
 
Extremely possible. Apple will definitely want to push more customers into buying the Air or the Pro. Air 2, if it gets two cameras and $100 price reduction, then it might be a better choice than base 18.
 
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Perhaps there will be no more 18e, just the regular iPhone. iPhone -> iPhone Air -> iPhone Pro -> iPhone Ultra.
🤷🏻‍♂️
 
musicmachine said:
I’m basing my opinion on a report that suggests Ternus will be similar to Steve. Consolidation was one of Job’s initial moves. Additionally, we didn’t anticipate the iPod to go away either, but the iPhone effectively eliminated the iPod line, much like I believe the fold and touchscreen MacBook will do to the iPad line. I still believe there’s a market for iPads, but I think there won’t be as many options.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he drastically saved the company from bankruptcy by ruthlessly slashing its product line by 70%—reducing dozens of projects down to a simple, focused "4-product grid" (one laptop and one desktop for both professionals and consumers).
Key actions that turned Apple around included:
  • Cutting Inventory: Jobs cut inventory by over 80% to cut costs and simplify manufacturing.
Click to expand...
The iPad mini is used heavily by small business, who are absolutely not going to start replacing those with iPhones reportedly four times the price.
 
aggravated_raspberry said:
The iPad mini is used heavily by small business, who are absolutely not going to start replacing those with iPhones reportedly four times the price.
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From that perspective I agree and same with the base as it pertains to younger education. I guess it’s easy to just think from a consumer standpoint.
 
platinumaqua said:
"too many people are opting for the standard model instead of pro, let's fix that"
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Except pro models are already something every consumer already has their eye on long before they actually buy one. Those that opt for the base models obviously already acknowledge the downgrade in specs and clearly don’t gaf about those compromises if it means staying in ’s ecosystem and not having to move to a new OS just to save hundreds of dollars in the process.

The success of the non pro models is actually a testament to thoughtfully producing the products people want at the specs they are fine with rather than a perceived push to “fix” the consumers decision making processes.

Another example: Do you honestly believe  uses the budget Neo laptop or the air to do the bait and switch- Just to bring customers into the store and coax them into a higher tier purchase? Bc if you do, you haven’t been paying attention at all.

Fr, ask Apple employees how many people walk into the store uncertain of what they want and/or why they want it. They’ve already made that choice, or just need to see it in front of them to further confirm their purchase preference.

Of course this is my opinion just like yours is your own… so I won’t state it as an assumed or presumed fact… but decades of watching this company do what it has always done best suggests there is a flaw in your analysis.
platinumaqua said:
"too many people are opting for the standard model instead of pro, let's fix that"
Click to expand...
 
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Apple — whether under the current CEO or a future one — seems intent on widening the gap between "Pro" and standard models. The problem is the execution: selling devices with the same CPU/GPU but varying numbers of active cores creates a lineup that consumers can barely decode. It's reminiscent of those "organic" energy bars that sound healthy until you read the ingredient list. Confusion by design is never a good look.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, his first move was to slash the product lineup down to the essentials. The same logic applies here: a base iPhone, a standard iPhone, and a Pro iPhone — each with clearly defined, unambiguous specs: core counts, RAM, no asterisks.
 
This seems like a brilliant "Canary Trap": Bogus "iPhone 18 downgrade" info helps find a leaker and it helps drive sales of the current iPhone 17! Win/Win!
 
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