9to5Mac<\/a>.<\/p>\nI\u2019ll take issue with him on one point: the six phones would be the two Pro models, the iPhone 18, the foldable iPhone, iPhone 18e and a second-gen iPhone Air. I don\u2019t believe the iPhone Air was ever meant to be an annual release \u2014 one reason why there\u2019s no number in its nomenclature. <\/p>\n
Why A Spring 2027 Launch Makes Sense<\/p>\n
But moving the iPhone 18 to spring 2027 to launch alongside the iPhone 18e has its benefits. <\/p>\n
Apple iPhone 17e: the iPhone 18e may not launch on its own next year. <\/p>\n
AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
First, the increased cost of components which has caused manufacturers to increase prices may have eased a little by then and anyway, the more expensive environment that is beginning to prevail may camouflage any increase. <\/p>\n
That said, the future is not looking rosy just now. In his final Apple earnings call before he hands the baton to John Ternus on Sept. 1, current CEO Tim Cook was not overly positive about constraints. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look beyond September, we see the market pricing for memory continuing to increase and have an increasing impact on our business,\u201d Cook said in the call on Thursday, July 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you would expect, we have benefited from some carry-in inventory in the September quarter. However, we believe we will see decreasing benefit of this over time beyond the September quarter. The second is we’re expecting lower cost on certain non-memory components,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe DRAM market has three suppliers. Obviously, if there were more suppliers, that would be good, and it would help us on the supply side and perhaps the pricing side. It’s unclear on the pricing side, but it could help on the supply side. And so we’re evaluating all options,\u201d he went on.<\/p>\n
In other words, there could be benefit to Apple in launching the iPhone 18 later, but we just don\u2019t know yet. <\/p>\n
Second, if your carrier contract runs out at the beginning of the year \u2014 and also remember, many people receive an iPhone as a Christmas present \u2014 you no longer have to wait nine months to snag a new model. Instead, there could be a choice of at least two coming in just a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n
Third, we\u2019re already used to a split schedule from Apple and this makes it more momentous if there are two phones rather than one.<\/p>\n
Apple will likely ensure there are big differences between the regular model and the \u201ce\u201d series so customers have clear choices. <\/p>\n
One other thing: the other reason iPhone Air gen 2 was unlikely to appear this fall is it would be upstaged by the foldable. Two regular phones and one entirely new is one thing, but adding the second version of another eye-catching model seems less savvy. <\/p>\n
Which leaves the way open for iPhone Air 2 to land alongside the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in spring 2027.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s Fall Release Schedule<\/p>\n
As mentioned above, the next Apple special event will happen in September. I believe Wednesday, Sept. 9 is the most likely day \u2014 though some pundits think Tuesday, Sept. 8 is a contender. I disagree because Apple has literally never held an iPhone reveal on the day after Labor Day, which this year falls on Monday, Sept. 7. <\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s impossible for Apple to change its mind on this, but I think it\u2019s remarkably unlikely that it will. <\/p>\n
Whichever date Apple settles on, that day will be the first time anyone gets to see the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max plus the first iPhone foldable. Also to be announced that day are the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. It\u2019s not likely there will be an update to the Apple Watch SE series as that happened last September.<\/p>\n
Despite the absence of the iPhone 18 and iPhone Air second-generation, the models which are announced will then follow a strict schedule: pre-orders will open on Friday, Sept. 11 and the new phones will go on sale on Friday, Sept. 18. <\/p>\n
ForbesApple iOS 26.6 New iPhone Software: Should You Upgrade?By David Phelan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 30 update: this post, first published on July 29, was updated with more details of the new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[517,4536,63983,71004,27077,74],"class_list":["post-797254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-iphone","tag-iphone-18","tag-iphone-air","tag-iphones","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Apple](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785581950_17_0x0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n