No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/01/no-iphone-18-launch-this-year/

44 Comments

  1. Good. Gives them time to cook and make something that’s actually worth what they charge for it.

  2. iloovehugecock on

    Yearly phone upgrades are stupid anyway and always have been. Just fuck off for a bit and come to public when you have anything actually worthwhile upgrading for. Incremental processing speeds and camera upgrades are useless to 99% of people.

  3. >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.

    So little changes year to year at this point that yearly updates really don’t make sense at this point especially for standard models. And that’s not just for Apple. I just stopped using my 4.5 year old Samsung A52 and that’s only because my son’s phone broke and he wasn’t going to be the one to get a new phone. Apart from software updates there really isn’t any huge reason for the majority of people to upgrade their phone anymore. They do everything we need them to do.

  4. They’d probably have to get new contracts for RAM supply, and the terms right now would be horrible.

  5. While it won’t be good for the shareholders who need the money printers to go brrr quicker every quarter.

    Phones have matured enough annual releases are marginal incremental improvements, 2 year model cycles makes sense.

  6. Good call. Stretching out iPhone releases might make quarterly reports look weak, but it gives Apple more time to actually roll out meaningful changes in hardware and software instead of just shuffling things around for the sake of a yearly refresh.

  7. Munkeyman18290 on

    This could be said about nearly every product out there. We dont need new iphones every year that do the same thing over and over.

    We also dont need 8k or 16k tvs. We dont need new weapons or fighter jets. We also dont need a new way to eat the same chicken sandwiches, burgers, or fries in a new setting. We dont need new “_____”.

    What we do need is to stop wasting limited resources and everyones limited time on this planet compulsively making crap. What we should be doing is taking what we have learned and use it to make everyones lives easier and to give people their limited time back.

  8. If this is true, then Apple is probably trying to line up their 20th phone on 2030 to make it more momentous.

  9. Apple should move to a 1.5 year and a 2 year release cycle. Gives them time to develop/innovate and not do incremental releases that create buyer fatigue. As is they’re making more from services than outright iPhone hardware IIRC

  10. >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.

    This should not be surprising. They hired a supply chain expert to run Apple, not a visionary. What matters now are things like procurement and optimizing fulfillment logistics, not putting a better phone in your hand.

  11. The takes in this sub are so dumb. “I don’t need a phone every year.” Well no shit. But someone does. And they don’t want a phone that is closer to end of life than beginning.

  12. My iphone 14 Pro is still just as good as the day I got it. The only issue I have is my charging port doesn’t work, but thanks to magsafe that’s really no problem for me.

    Lasted much longer than any Android phone that I ever had which would have severe battery issues after 2 years of use.

  13. The Apple designers are too busy coming up with new gold-adorned trophy’s for their CEO to present to Tangerine Palpatine

  14. Sure sure and a circular Apple Watch, MacBook with a touchscreen and bla bla bla yadda yadda 🙄🙄🙄

  15. My 15 still works fine. I’ll use it until it won’t charge anymore or it stops updating.

  16. I’m on a 12 Pro that’s started to show its age. A new 17 would be nice but I think something like a refurb 15 pro is way more bang for your buck which is probably what I’ll do soon.

  17. NebulousNitrate on

    With RAM/VRAM and storage costs skyrocketing, I feel like Apple going to have to take a heavy hit on profits with the next release, or they’re going to have to crank up the price.

  18. Apple does it with Macs and iPads.

    From a production standpoint, it makes sense.

    Interesting and noted.

  19. Well, I’d normally get an android phone anyway. Samsung’s latest mid-range A series still due in March 2026 or so last I heard, plus some very cheap Chinese phones aren’t illegal here. Approximately everyone uses WhatsApp (not personally a fan in particular, just it’s currently [got something like 75% *of my country*](https://www.infobip.com/blog/whatsapp-statistics) on it, and most of the remaining 25% will be old people, so good luck not being on it), so the cheapest android phone that doesn’t completely suck is a usual choice.

  20. ExplosiveBrown on

    We have perfected the smartphone. There’s nowhere else to go.

    Can we stop generating mountains of the waste and start making interchangeable fucking batteries now?

  21. I just want the iPhone 18 Chunk edition. Three day battery life, better cooling for faster charging, three cameras with no camera bump, a headphone jack, room for multiple SIMS, and LiDAR sensor.

  22. fakenews_thankme on

    I heard it will be super revolutionary this year – better camera, faster processor, more memory, .001mm thinner than the last year and oh don’t forget the most advanced OS humanity has ever built (features that Android and other phone manufacturers developed 5 years ago but didn’t know how to implement them properly). I love how Apple keeps innovating.

  23. It’s about time release cycles slow down. Hopefully Android manufacturers follow suit.

    I remember when a desktop or laptop PC was a serious investment, think more like $4000-$5000 today, and they’d be absolutely obsolete in a couple of years, and the hard drive crapping out at three or so. Now I’m running a desktop that has a processor that came out in 2022, a GPU that came out nine years ago(!) and…well, it’s fine.

    Phones have reached a level of maturity where we *shouldn’t* need to upgrade every two years. The iPhone 17’s processor would probably make for a hell of a pro laptop.

  24. thePsychonautDad on

    Probably 25% more expensive than the last one, with absolutely nothing new that matters. Probably still far behind Android phones in tech.

  25. Huh… I was holding off upgrading for a few more months… but it sounds like I might as well now and wait for the next cycle.