iPhone 18 rumors: Release date, leaks, and more

Apple’s flagship smartphone hasn’t taken a year off from its updates since 2007, and without any major surprises, 2026 will be no different.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to launch a new lineup of iPhones later this year, including the new iPhone 18, 18 Pro, and the rumored iPhone Ultra, which is the company’s first foldable phone.

As we await the iPhone 18 – and its new operating system, iOS 27 – news and rumors continue to emerge. The pace of leaks on the iPhone 18 Pro in particular is likely to increase after a major hack exposed thousands of Apple’s internal documents, which reportedly include iPhone 18 Pro suppliers and testing.

Still, we won’t see any new Apple phones in the wild for months – but at least we can bring you the most reliable and feasible updates in one place.

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iPhone 18 release date and price

If you’re in the market for a new iPhone, you should circle September on your calendar. That’s been Apple’s biggest event month for a very long time, and there’s no reason to believe that Apple will change that in 2026.

Expect to see new Apple CEO John Ternus take the stage to introduce it; his term in office officially begins on September 1.

What he will be introducing, alas, may put a big dent in your wallet. Due to the ongoing RAM shortage caused by the AI ​​industry (also known as RAMageddon), tons of smartphones, laptops, and game consoles are seeing huge price increases. Experts who spoke to Mashable say that this trend will not end soon.

As the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer, Apple has some advantages over its competitors, but price increases are inevitable. We’d hoped otherwise – Apple raised the prices of its new MacBooks earlier this year, when it introduced a $599 laptop that put a lot of pressure on its Windows rivals.

But outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook took the unusual step of preparing us for a more expensive iPhone. “Price increases are inevitable,” Cook told the newspaper The Wall Street Journal in the conversation. I Journal he cited an analysis showing that the memory chip components in the iPhone 18 Pro will cost Apple $150 more than those in the iPhone 17 Pro.

So should you expect the phones to cost $150 more than their predecessors (see iPhone 17 prices here)? You wish. There is the annoying fact that Apple is a profitable company, and the iPhone is the #1 smartphone in the world for a reason, even though it is already more expensive than Samsung.

How much will Apple fans increase? We may find out, though Journal it’s about $1,299 for the iPhone 18 Pro ($200 more than last year).

iPhone 18 models

Without a big turn under Ternus, Apple will release the basic iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max in late September or early October. That’s one thing strength it would be a surprise (depending on how much technology news you follow) that Apple could introduce or announce a foldable iPhone alongside the standard iPhone 18 models.

That phone is rumored to be called the iPhone Fold, or the iPhone Fold Ultra. It’s not quite a member of the iPhone 18 family, at least in name, so head over to our hub for all things iPhone Fold/Ultra to learn more about it.

iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro design

Also, Apple hasn’t released any official teasers or other images of the iPhone 18 lineup yet, so anything reported so far might be wrong. Still, from the sum total of all reports, it sounds like Apple isn’t really reinventing the wheel, design-wise. But Ternus, the hardware guy, is reportedly bringing the company’s industrial design team into the middle of the Apple fold.

Looking ahead to the future, the iPhone 20 is said to bring major changes, including a curved waterfall display.

According to our friends at CNET (Mashable and CNET are both owned by Ziff Davis), display sizes will be roughly the same as last year:

However, the display quality may be slightly different this year. Prominent leaker Instant Digital shared on Chinese social media that Apple’s lighting demands are unusually high this year, so it would be reasonable to expect brighter displays than in previous years.

The basic iPhone 18 may also have a smaller camera compared to previous models. There are reports of a slightly redesigned Dynamic Island on the screen itself, with a pill-shaped notification hub that may have been made smaller on the iPhone 18 models. One alleged leaked image shows the iPhone 18 Pro with a Dynamic Island cutout.

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Wondering about iPhone 18 color options? For the iPhone 18 Pro, at least, it seems that the color options have already been leaked. Previous rumors have suggested that Apple was testing a “deep red” color for the iPhone 18 Pro, and a new report from MacWorld supports that. According to their report, the colors of the iPhone 18 Pro will be silver, gray, navy blue, and a color called “dark cherry” – possibly the deep red previously reported.

Sadly, we think fans of black iPhones are out of luck again.

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iPhone 18: rumored hardware features

So we know the software the iPhone 18 will run: iOS 27, presented at WWDC 2026. It’s time to start talking about some of the internal hardware changes that Apple is reportedly making in the iPhone 18 system.

First, it sounds like the system will have a limited amount of 12GB of RAM across the board. In previous years, the Pro models had 12GB of RAM, while the base model only had 8GB. According to the Korean store Bell, Apple will upgrade the basic model to match the Pro models in that regard. It is widely expected that Apple will use the new A20 and A20 Pro chips in the base and Pro models, respectively.

The new iPhones are also expected to have a new C2 modem for improved cellular connectivity, and may have 5G satellite support. Also reported: new N2 chip for better WiFi performance.

The latest iPhone 18 Pro rumors

With the iPhone 18 Pro, the expectation now is that Apple will improve the battery size in the flagship iPhone 18 models this year.

Leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo reported that the batteries could exceed 5,000mAh, which would be better than the iPhone 17 Pro.

In addition, it is reported that a small camera cutout is active only in the base model. Apple is expected to maintain the large plateau seen in the iPhone 17 Pro last year for the iPhone 18 Pro.

Instant Digital posted a separate leak on Weibo that the back glass of the iPhone 18 Pro has been changed, resulting in a new compact look, unlike the two-tone look of the iPhone 17 Pro. Whether that change will affect durability (or if it’s just an aesthetic difference) remains to be seen.

What about the iPhone 18 Pro Max?

Several reports from China claim that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a bigger battery – and be a little boy as a result.

We are not talking about a huge increase in weight and width: a quarter of a millimeter in thickness and 7 grams respectively. Still, every gram counts for the cheapest iPhone model you can get – so iPhone 17 Pro Max buyers may want to check that their wallets can carry the bulk of the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Are you an Apple fan? Enter Mashable’s Big Guessing Game to win prizes.

iPhone 18 camera rumors

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the source of many iPhone reports, says that the iPhone 18 Pro, in particular, will have “the biggest improvement in camera hardware in the history of the system.”

Why? First, the telephoto camera has a large aperture. But the most important thing is the flexible hole.

First reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, dynamic exposure is big money. It will allow the iPhone 18 Pro camera to capture different amounts of light in different conditions – which can lead to a huge jump in image quality, if you know what you’re doing.

For example, the bokeh effect popularly associated with portrait mode on iPhones can happen with the camera instead of software processing, resulting in more natural and better-looking shots.

What about AI Siri?

Of course, one of the first things that many users will want to know about the iPhone 18 when they get their hands on one: how is the new, renewed, improved AI Siri experience?

We have been waiting for an answer for some time. Apple first promised users a new, intelligent, powerful Apple Intelligence Siri two years agoand the company has since faced lawsuits after it failed to deliver. (The company settled a class-action lawsuit related to these claims for $250 million.)

Of course, post-WWDC, we know a lot about Apple Intelligence in general. We know that Siri will understand what’s on your screen. We know that Siri will be smarter in general, powered by Gemini. And as Apple’s father Craig Federighi was at pains to say, AI Siri won’t try to suck you out of conversations and be your friend.

“Siri really wants to say, ‘I can help you do things. I can help you learn about the world,'” Federighi said. “But if you’re trying to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri isn’t up to it. Siri doesn’t do that 100 percent.”

There you have it: If you want to love an Apple product, love the new iPhone 18, not its chatbot.