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No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest
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I don't believe. Too much money left on the table. People would buy a standard iphone 18 even if apple keeps the same SOC and RAM but change the exterior a tiny bit.
Too many isheep willing to upgrade every year regardless of specs
Too many isheep willing to upgrade every year regardless of specs
Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy at the time, it’s not really comparable. They’re still only going to be making 5 phones tops (different screen sizes of the same model are unlikely to confuse anyone)
Samsung makes 10 different models, for comparison (in addition to hundreds of other products). I think Apple is doing fine, and if anything could afford to branch out slightly more than they have
Or people who'd go for an iPhone 18, would get the 18 Pro instead.
Plus, spreading out the launches over 6 months helps their financial quarters so it's probably a win-win for Apple.
I believe pro models are too sellers anyways due to the small difference In monthly cost between a standard and pro.
I also wouldn't be surprised if the rising cost of ram and storage are factors for delaying the standard phone.
Multi-billion dollar (trillion?) company probably knows best.
Those absolute a**Holes, giving us choice
I don't believe. Too much money left on the table. People would buy a standard iphone 18 even if apple keeps the same SOC and RAM but change the exterior a tiny bit.
Too many isheep willing to upgrade every year regardless of specs
Yearly upgraders are in the range of 6-8%, and dropping. While that is still a big number, it's small in terms of business decisions.
That said, I doubt this will happen too.
Nice, I think annual refreshes are pointless these days.
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle.
Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest standard model for over 18 months. This would mark the first time Apple skips an entire calendar year without releasing a new generation of its flagship non-Pro iPhone.
For more than a decade, Apple has introduced its mainline iPhone lineup in the fall, with all core models launching simultaneously in September. That pattern is expected to change this year, when the company is widely rumored to split its upcoming iPhone releases across two distinct release windows rather than unveiling the entire lineup at once. Under this strategy, Apple is expected to prioritize higher-end models in the fall while delaying lower-cost or standard models until the following year.
As a result, Apple is not expected to ship the iPhone 18 in 2026. Instead, reports indicate that Apple plans to launch the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone in the usual fall timeframe, while holding the standard iPhone 18 back until the spring of 2027, where it will launch alongside the iPhone 18e and iPhone Air 2.
The rumored change is tied to Apple's expanding iPhone lineup. With the introduction of the iPhone 16e and iPhone Air in 2025, the expected debut of the first foldable iPhone in 2026, and the continued presence of older models like the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, there could be at least eight distinct iPhone models on sale from Apple by the end of 2026. A staggered release schedule would allow the company to further differentiate its models, give them a longer sales window without internal competition, and spread iPhone launches more evenly across the year.
Supply chain analysts have also pointed to manufacturing and logistics benefits as a factor behind the rumored shift. By spacing out launches, Apple could reduce production bottlenecks, better manage component supply for advanced technologies, and smooth revenue recognition across fiscal quarters rather than concentrating iPhone sales in a single period.
Article Link: No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest
More people are keeping their devices for longer.
Hopefully by not focusing on the 17 refreshes Apple can focus on refreshing other products like HomePod 3, AirPods Max etc.
Plus I feel Apple follows this logic already with all macs and iPads. Separating the pro and non-pro release windows.
Also this could be a benefit in disguise as non-pro users are more likely to keep their phone longer, where as some power users might want the best and latest all of the time.
I seen another person comment suggest that by letting the pro users get the latest A chip variant first, it might reduce the need for price increases by being able to prioritise A20 pro manufacturing over balancing it with the standard A20 production.
Then when the non-pro gets refreshed they can prioritise standard A20 production over the A20 pro.
Also I just feel like having 4 or more phones drop at the same time does cause models to compete with each other.
Not sure how this will look long term but I think it’s worth Apple trying as to not overwhelm customers in one go and it can better align with customers who don’t upgrade every year.
Instead of all users getting excited at once, they can now have new model hype multiple times per year and last time I checked.
Hype sells!
I agree, I think Stagger is the best solution as the other two have already been tried.
You could argue non-pros getting last gen chip isn't too bad but when they started it, people felt like they were getting less for their money.
However keeping both models on the same chip (not A standard or A pro) was better value for the non-pros but then you could argue less value for the pro users and everyone seen higher prices..
I feel trying the stagger might be a good way to balance everything, control chip production demand and allow the models to more space breathe in the line up.
I agree, the 17 has done really well this year and you could argue the 15 and 16 has too.
Although the entire 16 line was perhaps propped up a bit by the heavily delayed full release of Apple Intelligence.
Personal, I feel Apple have been struggling for years to balance the gap between standard and pro models (hardware and feature wise) and after dropping the Air (the replacement for the Mini and non-pro Plus models) they seen the same pattern, not enough sales (in their opinion)
Also, I feel the iPhone Air was a tone deaf release where Apple were hoping to charge more for less by disguising it with pure athletics.
It might be a mistake for non-pro sales based on this years performance but I do feel, it's worth trying.
I think both does need to slow down a little.
The Pro phones are still around 75% of iPhone sales. It makes sense to move the rest to a different time of year to ease the supply chain.
Base iPhone will still be a yearly update, it just will be available in March 2027 this year.
iPhone XX Pro/Fold in September
iPhone XX/e in March
Considering the pro models account for 60% of units sold, this makes sense to maximize revenue before Christmas shopping and leaving the standard models alogn with e and air to the spring time.
No, this was rumored multiple times way before OpenAI bought up RAM production which causd the price increase.
I’d honestly be quite happy for Apple to move to a two year cycle for all their devices. Releasing something new every year means such small increments in features that some years it feels like all that has changed is the model number. Of course, the shareholders expect a new phone every year because line must go up, so Apple can’t really break out of their cage.
Personally I’d fit most of the product line into three categories
- Pro - best of the best, professional focussed more expensive
- Air - portability focused, might compromise battery or functionality for weight
- Standard (iPad, MacBook, iPhone) - replacing the SE as the affordable consumer option that should be the default for most people
Trim the whole product line down, let it run for a bit, and see if any are unjustified or unsustainable. Combine the Mac mini and Mac Studio into Mac and Mac Pro respectively. Don’t bother with Air for desktops unless you can miniaturise to such and extent that it mounts behind a monitor/is a portable device for different screens that plugs into HDMI.
For the release cycles, have the Pro go first to allow early adopters to pay for the cutting edge - have the Standard a generation or so behind the reduce costs via volume and more affordable manufacturing of components.
- Pro - best of the best, professional focussed more expensive
- Air - portability focused, might compromise battery or functionality for weight
- Standard (iPad, MacBook, iPhone) - replacing the SE as the affordable consumer option that should be the default for most people
Trim the whole product line down, let it run for a bit, and see if any are unjustified or unsustainable. Combine the Mac mini and Mac Studio into Mac and Mac Pro respectively. Don’t bother with Air for desktops unless you can miniaturise to such and extent that it mounts behind a monitor/is a portable device for different screens that plugs into HDMI.
For the release cycles, have the Pro go first to allow early adopters to pay for the cutting edge - have the Standard a generation or so behind the reduce costs via volume and more affordable manufacturing of components.
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. From whenever I talk to non-techies, they are usually aware of new iPhones from the ads. But they are usually not aware of different models. IE, nobody knows about the iPhone Air because the orange iPhone stole the show.
This gives much more exposure time to the new pro/fold phones, gets them out for the holidays and maybe a second boost in the spring? But I can also see this causing confusion because in the spring people will be saying "the iPhone 18 already came out..."
This gives much more exposure time to the new pro/fold phones, gets them out for the holidays and maybe a second boost in the spring? But I can also see this causing confusion because in the spring people will be saying "the iPhone 18 already came out..."
Just use the new 3nm fab for the next one. Still decent improvements and allows time for better cost per yield of TSMC’s 2nm or Intel.
It's interesting how close you and others are to seeing through the marketing shenanigans but you can't quite land it...
What they're saying is that the non-pro iPhones are now the cheap ones going forward. The 18 is just going to be them selling an SE or e without actually calling it such.