After years of relatively incremental updates, 2025 turned out to be a significant year for the iPhone. Apple gave us a brand new model in the form of the (sadly ill-fated) iPhone Air, while the iPhone Pro line up sported a bold and somewhat controversial new unibody design. But 2026 is looking like an even more notable year in terms of what Apple will—and won’t—announce.
Rumours have suggested for a while that Apple is planning to deviate from its standard practice of announcing both the standard iPhone and the iPhone Pro this September. And now, one of Apple’s suppliers has allegedly confirmed that the standard iPhone 18 won’t be appearing until next year.
Leaked dummy units purported to show the dimensions of the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Ultra and iPhone 18 Pro Max earlier this year (Image credit: Sonny Dickinson)
As spotted by MacRumors, Pegatron has revealed in an earnings call that one of its suppliers, widely believed to be Apple, is changing its usual smartphone shipment schedule, with the standard iPhone 18 not arriving until March 2027.
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But while Apple might withholding one model in September, it’s also said to be giving us a brand new one. Apple’s long-awaited folding iPhone, rumoured to be called the iPhone Ultra is also set to debut next month. But with that model all but guaranteed to cost even more than the Pro and Pro Max, September isn’t looking like a great month for Apple fans on a budget.
Did the iPhone 17 get a huge spec bump because it’ll be on sale months longer than normal? (Image credit: Apple)
We were mightily impressed by the base level iPhone 17 when it launched last year. With a ProMotion display, always-on screen and 48MP camera, it represented perhaps the most ‘Pro’ version of the standard model ever. And now it’s looking like we might know why – perhaps Apple gave the iPhone 17 a massive spec bump knowing it would need to survive in the market for several months longer than normal.
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