iPhone 18

A new report from Weibo user highlights Apple’s continued work on refining the screen technology for the iPhone 18 Pro.

According to the rumor, Apple is testing a new way to reduce the size of the display cutout needed for the front-facing camera.

Earlier today, we reported on camera upgrades in the works for the iPhone 18 Pro. Now, the same leaker has detailed what to expect from the designs for two new iPhone models next year.

A leaker with a good track record on iPhone camera matters has backed earlier reports that the iPhone 18 Pro will get a variable aperture lens, something not yet seen in an iPhone.

It’s not yet clear whether both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will get the upcoming feature, or whether it will be exclusive to the latter …

With the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro lineup, Apple shipped a major upgrade alongside the A19 Pro chip – 12GB of unified memory. That’s 50% more than the iPhones that directly preceded it, and double what iPhones offered just a couple years ago.

However, the base iPhone 17 with its A19 chip missed out on this upgrade – still sticking with 8GB of unified memory. According to one report from The Bell (via MacRumors), though, that might change with the next model.

While Apple and SpaceX have no direct arrangement over Starlink satellite-based internet connectivity, a new report highlights two reasons why that could change in the future. The report also highlights a hardware change that could arrive with next year’s iPhone 18 Pro.

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a significant improvement to the main iPhone camera in the form of a variable aperture lens. Some reports claimed that this would be introduced in the iPhone 17, but this of course didn’t happen.

Ming-Chi Kuo first reported plans to introduce the feature in the iPhone 18, and this has now been corroborated by a supply chain report which says that work is already underway on the new hardware …

Once upon a time, there was just a single iPhone. Today, things are rather more complicated, with a choice of four new models plus two older ones remaining on sale directly from Apple.

Next year may see the most fragmented iPhone lineup we have ever seen in the company’s history – and that could be bad news for some of us …

While Apple first started supporting eSIMs back in 2018, it’s only this year that it has taken full advantage of the technology.

For the first time, Apple is using the space previously occupied by an insertable SIM card slot for additional battery capacity …

Apple is apparently preparing its supply chain for an uptick in new iPhone sales next year, according to a new report by Nikkei. The company has apparently targeted sales of about 95 million iPhone 18 models in 2026, noting that the new lineup won’t arrive until the fall.

While the new foldable model will draw interest, Apple is expecting sales to be up across all iPhone 18 models. The company seems to be indicating that it expects a halo effect, where people are enticed into upgrading based on the flashiness of the shiny new folding iPhone, but some will ultimately opt to upgrade to a traditional slab iPhone 18 regardless.

Sure, the iPhone 17 lineup hasn’t even shipped yet, but that doesn’t stop the news cycle rolling on. A new report details the chipset we can expect to find inside the iPhone Fold and the iPhone 18 Pro models.

This will of course include the A20 chip, the first to be made using a 2-nanometer process, but the report suggests we can expect mobile data speeds to be faster thanks to a new Apple modem chip …

This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: all the latest expectations for next year’s iPhone 18 lineup, including iPhone Fold and iPhone Air 2, based on current rumors.

Six people have been arrested after Apple chipmaker TSMC said that several then-employees tried to steal trade secrets relating to the company’s most advanced chip process. TSMC fired the individuals concerned and is now taking legal action against them.

Update: Three of the six have now been indicted, and prosecutors are seeking a 14-year prison sentence for one of them – see the update at the end …

Earlier this week, a random report from an account with zero track-record claimed that the iPhone 18 will drop the Camera Control button. We were skeptical of the rumor at the time, and now a new leak from a more reliable source has the full context.

As it turns out, Apple isn’t planning to remove the Camera Control from the iPhone 18 altogether, but rather introduce a dumbed-down version of it.

A random report from an account with zero track-record for anything claims that the iPhone 18 will drop the Camera Control button as too few people are using it.

The claim is entirely meaningless, but I strongly suspect that it’s right in one respect: that hardly anyone is using the feature …

The iPhone 17 unveiling is only weeks away, and iPhone 18 rumors are starting to pick up. A new report corroborates previous claims that the iPhone 18 launch lineup will drop a surprisingly important model.

We’re just weeks away from Apple unveiling its iPhone 17 lineup, but a new report corroborates prior indications that next year’s iPhone 18 models are due for an especially strong performance boost thanks to innovations with the A20 chip.

One of the bullet points in Apple’s announcement of its increased US manufacturing spend made a big, but very non-specific, claim. Apple said that it was working with Samsung on an “innovative new technology which has never been used before anywhere in the world.”

Although the company was being mysterious, we likely know what that means – and it’s great news not just for the iPhone 18, but also for future iPhones beyond it …

Corroborating The Information reporting from over the weekend, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has laid out his predictions for the next few years of iPhone launches in a post on Craft today. Most notably, Apple will move away from releasing all of its flagship phones at the same time in the fall, a rigid calendar that has been in place since the iPhone 4s in 2011.

Going forward, Apple is moving to launching its cheaper budget iPhones in the first half of the year, and Pro models in the fall. This means you will see versions of the iPhone 18 and iPhone 19 arrive in the first and latter half of the same year, across 2027, respectively.

Apple has long pursued the goal of eliminating bezels and notches to create a truly uninterrupted iPhone display—without compromising features like Face ID or the front-facing camera. That journey has brought major design changes over the years, and the next steps may introduce some unusual choices as Apple iterates toward its all-display vision.

According to a new report from Wayne Ma from The Information, Apple may be looking to shake up its release strategy with the iPhone 18 lineup, with some models launching in the fall as they would normally, and others moving to a new spring release window.