Apple’s flagship smartphone hasn’t taken a yr off from its updates since 2007, and barring an enormous shock, 2026 will not be any totally different.
The Cupertino-based tech big is extensively anticipated to launch a brand new lineup of iPhones later this yr, together with the brand new iPhone 18, the 18 Professional, and the rumored iPhone Extremely, the corporate’s first-ever foldable.
As we await the iPhone 18 — and its up to date working system, iOS 27 — tidbits of reports and rumors proceed to trickle out. Whereas we can’t see any of the brand new Apple telephones within the wild for months, we are able to at the least carry you essentially the most substantiated and most certainly updates in a single place.
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Apple reportedly engaged on anti-phone snatching safety function
iPhone 18 launch date and pricing
In the event you’re available in the market for a brand new iPhone, it is best to circle September in your calendar. That has been the month for Apple’s massive showcase occasion for a really very long time, and there is not any purpose to consider Apple will change that in 2026. Anticipate to see new Apple CEO John Ternus take the stage to introduce it; his time period of workplace formally begins Sept. 1.
What he’ll be introducing, alas, could put extra of a dent in your pockets. Because of the continued RAM scarcity brought on by the AI trade (often known as RAMageddon), tons of smartphones, laptops, and gaming consoles are seeing enormous value hikes. Specialists who’ve spoken to Mashable say that development is not going to cease anytime quickly.
Because the world’s primary smartphone maker, Apple has some benefits over its rivals, however a value improve is certainly coming. We had hoped in any other case — Apple raised costs on its new MacBooks earlier this yr, whereas additionally introducing a low-cost $599 laptop computer that put massive strain on its Home windows rivals.
However then outgoing Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner took the bizarre step of getting ready us for a pricier iPhone. “Worth will increase are unavoidable,” Prepare dinner instructed the Wall Road Journal in an interview. The Journal quoted an evaluation displaying that the reminiscence chip elements within the iPhone 18 Professional will value Apple $150 greater than these within the iPhone 17 Professional.
So do you have to anticipate the telephones to value simply $150 greater than their predecessors (see the iPhone 17 costs right here)? You want. There’s the pesky indisputable fact that Apple is a for-profit firm, and the iPhone is the #1 smartphone on this planet for a purpose, although it is already pricier than Samsung’s.
How a lot of a rise will Apple followers bear? We could also be about to seek out out, however the Journal estimated $1,299 for the iPhone 18 Professional ($200 greater than final yr).
iPhone 18 fashions
Barring an enormous flip below Ternus, Apple will launch a base iPhone 18, an iPhone 18 Professional, and an iPhone 18 Professional Max in late September or early October. One factor that would possibly be a shock (relying on how a lot tech information you observe) is that Apple could launch or announce a foldable iPhone alongside the traditional iPhone 18 fashions.
That telephone is rumored to be referred to as the iPhone Fold, or iPhone Fold Extremely. It isn’t strictly a member of the iPhone 18 household, at the least by title, so head to our hub for all issues iPhone Fold/Extremely to learn extra about it.
iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Professional design
Once more, Apple has not launched any official teasers or different imagery for the iPhone 18 lineup but, so something reported so far may very well be mistaken. Nonetheless, from the sum whole of all reviews, it feels like Apple is not actually reinventing the wheel, design-wise. However Ternus, a {hardware} man, is reportedly bringing the corporate’s industrial design group into the middle of the Apple fold.
Wanting additional into the long run, the iPhone 20 is said to bring big changes, together with a curved waterfall show.
Per our buddies at CNET (Mashable and CNET are each owned by Ziff Davis), the show sizes can be roughly the identical as final yr:
Mashable Mild Pace
Nevertheless, the show high quality is perhaps a bit totally different this yr. Outstanding leaker Instant Digital shared on Chinese language social media that Apple’s brightness calls for are unusually excessive this yr, so it could be cheap to anticipate a lot brighter shows than in earlier years.
The bottom iPhone 18 may even have a smaller digital camera bump in comparison with earlier fashions. There are reviews of a barely redesigned Dynamic Island on the display itself, with the pill-shaped notification hub probably being made smaller within the iPhone 18 fashions. One alleged leaked picture purports to indicate an iPhone 18 Professional with a downsized Dynamic Island cutout.
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Questioning concerning the iPhone 18 shade choices? For the iPhone 18 Professional, at the least, it appears the colour choices have already leaked. Earlier rumors indicated Apple was experimenting with a “deep crimson” shade for the iPhone 18 Professional, and a brand new report from MacWorld backs that up. In response to their reporting, the colour lineup for the iPhone 18 Professional can be silver, grey, gentle blue, and a shade referred to as “darkish cherry” — probably the deep crimson beforehand reported.
Sadly, we predict followers of black iPhones are out of luck once more.
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iPhone 18: rumored {hardware} options
So we all know the software program the iPhone 18 will run: iOS 27, launched at WWDC 2026. Time to begin speaking about a few of the inner {hardware} modifications Apple is reportedly making to the iPhone 18 lineup.
For starters, it sounds just like the lineup may have a standardized 12GB RAM rely throughout the board. In earlier years, the Professional fashions had 12GB of RAM, whereas the bottom mannequin had solely 8GB. In response to Korean outlet The Bell, Apple can be upgrading the bottom mannequin in order that it matches the Professional fashions in that regard. It is also extensively anticipated that Apple will undertake new A20 and A20 Professional chips for the bottom and Professional fashions, respectively.
It is also anticipated that the brand new iPhones may have a brand new C2 modem for improved mobile connectivity, and so they may also have 5G satellite support. Additionally reported: a brand new N2 chip for higher WiFi efficiency.
Newest iPhone 18 Professional rumors
For the iPhone 18 Professional, the present expectation is that Apple will enhance the battery dimension within the premium iPhone 18 fashions this yr. Leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo reported that the batteries may exceed 5,000mAh, which might be an enchancment over the iPhone 17 Professional.
As well as, the smaller digital camera cutout reportedly applies solely to the bottom mannequin. It is anticipated that Apple will retain the larger plateau seen on the iPhone 17 Professional final yr for the iPhone 18 Professional.
Instant Digital posted in a separate Weibo leak that the again glass of the iPhone 18 Professional has been altered, leading to a brand new unified look, versus the two-tone look of the iPhone 17 Professional. Whether or not that change will have an effect on sturdiness (or if it is simply an aesthetic distinction) stays to be seen.
The iPhone 17 Professional has helped Apple break gross sales information in 2026.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder / Mashable
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iPhone 18 digital camera rumors
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a supply of many spot-on iPhone reviews, says the iPhone 18 Professional, particularly, may have “some of the biggest camera hardware upgrades in the lineup’s history.”
Why? First, the telephoto digital camera has a bigger aperture. However extra vital is the variable aperture.
First reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, variable aperture is a big deal. It might let the iPhone 18 Professional digital camera seize totally different quantities of sunshine for various conditions — probably resulting in an enormous leap in picture high quality, if you understand what you are doing.
As an example, the bokeh impact famously related to portrait mode on iPhones could be potential in-camera reasonably than by way of software program processing, leading to extra pure and customarily better-looking pictures.
What about AI Siri?
In fact, one of many first issues many customers will need to know concerning the iPhone 18 after they get their fingers on one: what’s the new, revamped, AI-upgraded Siri expertise like?
We have been ready for the reply for a while. Apple first promised customers a more moderen, smarter, Apple Intelligence-powered Siri two years in the past, and the corporate has since confronted lawsuits after it didn’t ship. (The corporate settled a category motion swimsuit associated to those claims for $250 million.)
Properly, post-WWDC, we all know much more about Apple Intelligence normally. We all know Siri will perceive what’s in your display. We all know Siri can be smarter normally, powered by Gemini. And as Apple daddy Craig Federighi has been at pains to level out, AI Siri won’t attempt to suck you into conversations and be your good friend.
“Siri actually needs to say, ‘I may also help you get issues accomplished. I may also help you study concerning the world,” Federighi mentioned. “However when you attempt to interact Siri as a romantic accomplice, Siri’s not up for that. Siri’s 100% not into that.”
There you might have it: If you wish to fall in love with an Apple product, fall in love with the all-new iPhone 18, not its chatbot.