The iPhone is almost old enough to vote. So, what do we expect from the upcoming iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro Max?
By
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
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Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
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Timothy Beck Werth
Tech Editor
Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men’s grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he’s also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl.
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Hard to believe there have been this many iPhones. Credit: Mashable composite
Apple's flagship smartphone hasn't taken a year off from its updates since 2007, and barring a massive surprise, 2026 won't be any different.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is widely expected to launch a new lineup of iPhones later this year, including the new iPhone 18, the 18 Pro, and the rumored iPhone Ultra, the company's first-ever foldable.
As we await the iPhone 18 — and its updated operating system, iOS 27 — tidbits of news and rumors continue to trickle out. While we won't see any of the new Apple phones in the wild for months, we can at least bring you the most substantiated and most likely updates in one place.
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iPhone 18 release date and pricing
If you're in the market for a new iPhone, you should circle September in your calendar. That has been the month for Apple's big showcase event for a very long time, and there's no reason to believe Apple will change that in 2026. Expect to see new Apple CEO John Ternus take the stage to introduce it; his term of office officially begins Sept. 1.
What he'll be introducing, alas, may put more of a dent in your wallet. Thanks to the ongoing RAM shortage caused by the AI industry (also known as RAMageddon), tons of smartphones, laptops, and gaming consoles are seeing huge price hikes. Experts who've spoken to Mashable say that trend isn't going to stop anytime soon.
As the world's number one smartphone maker, Apple has some advantages over its rivals, but a price increase is definitely coming. We had hoped otherwise — Apple raised prices on its new MacBooks earlier this year, while also introducing a low-cost $599 laptop that put big pressure on its Windows rivals.
But then outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook took the unusual step of preparing us for a pricier iPhone. "Price increases are unavoidable," Cook told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. The Journal quoted 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 just $150 more than their predecessors (see the iPhone 17 prices here)? You wish. There's the pesky fact that Apple is a for-profit company, and the iPhone is the #1 smartphone in the world for a reason, even though it's already pricier than Samsung's.
How much of an increase will Apple fans bear? We may be about to find out, but the Journal estimated $1,299 for the iPhone 18 Pro ($200 more than last year).
iPhone 18 models
Barring a huge turn under Ternus, Apple will release a base iPhone 18, an iPhone 18 Pro, and an iPhone 18 Pro Max in late September or early October. One thing that might be a surprise (depending on how much tech news you follow) is that Apple may launch or announce a foldable iPhone alongside the normal iPhone 18 models.
That phone is rumored to be called the iPhone Fold, or iPhone Fold Ultra. It's not strictly a member of the iPhone 18 family, at least by name, so head to our hub for all things iPhone Fold/Ultra to read more about it.
iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro design
Again, Apple has not released any official teasers or other imagery for the iPhone 18 lineup yet, so anything reported to date could be wrong. Still, from the sum total of all reports, it sounds like Apple isn't really reinventing the wheel, design-wise. But Ternus, a hardware guy, is reportedly bringing the company's industrial design group into the center of the Apple fold.
Looking further into the future, the iPhone 20 is said to bring big changes, including a curved waterfall display.
Per our friends at CNET (Mashable and CNET are both owned by Ziff Davis), the display sizes will be roughly the same as last year:
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iPhone 18: 6.3 inches
iPhone 18 Pro: 6.3 inches
iPhone 18 Pro Max: 6.9 inches
However, the display quality might be a little different this year. Prominent leaker Instant Digital shared on Chinese social media that Apple's brightness demands are unusually high this year, so it would be reasonable to expect much brighter displays than in previous years.
The base iPhone 18 could also have a smaller camera bump compared to previous models. There are reports of a slightly redesigned Dynamic Island on the screen itself, with the pill-shaped notification hub potentially being made smaller in the iPhone 18 models. One alleged leaked image purports to show an iPhone 18 Pro with a downsized Dynamic Island cutout.
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Wondering about the iPhone 18 color options? For the iPhone 18 Pro, at least, it seems the color options have already leaked. Previous rumors indicated Apple was experimenting with a "deep red" color for the iPhone 18 Pro, and a new report from MacWorld backs that up. According to their reporting, the color lineup for the iPhone 18 Pro will be silver, gray, light blue, and a color called "dark cherry" — likely 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, introduced at WWDC 2026. Time to start talking about some of the internal hardware changes Apple is reportedly making to the iPhone 18 lineup.
For starters, it sounds like the lineup will have a standardized 12GB RAM count across the board. In previous years, the Pro models had 12GB of RAM, while the base model had only 8GB. According to Korean outlet The Bell, Apple will be upgrading the base model so that it matches the Pro models in that regard. It's also widely expected that Apple will adopt new A20 and A20 Pro chips for the base and Pro models, respectively.
It's also expected that the new iPhones will have a new C2 modem for improved cellular connectivity, and they may also have 5G satellite support. Also reported: a new N2 chip for better WiFi performance.
Latest iPhone 18 Pro rumors
For the iPhone 18 Pro, the current expectation is that Apple will improve the battery size in the premium iPhone 18 models this year. Leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo reported that the batteries could exceed 5,000mAh, which would be an improvement over the iPhone 17 Pro.
In addition, the smaller camera cutout reportedly applies only to the base model. It's expected that Apple will retain the bigger plateau seen on the iPhone 17 Pro last year for the iPhone 18 Pro.
Instant Digital posted in a separate Weibo leak that the back glass of the iPhone 18 Pro has been altered, resulting in a new unified look, as opposed to 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.
The iPhone 17 Pro has helped Apple break sales records in 2026. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable
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iPhone 18 camera rumors
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a source of many spot-on iPhone reports, says the iPhone 18 Pro, in particular, will have "some of the biggest camera hardware upgrades in the lineup's history."
Why? First, the telephoto camera has a larger aperture. But more important is the variable aperture.
First reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, variable aperture is a huge deal. It would let the iPhone 18 Pro camera capture different amounts of light for different situations — potentially leading to a huge leap in photo quality, if you know what you're doing.
For instance, the bokeh effect famously associated with portrait mode on iPhones would be possible in-camera rather than through software processing, resulting in more natural and generally better-looking shots.
What about AI Siri?
Of course, one of the first things many users will want to know about the iPhone 18 when they get their hands on one: what is the new, revamped, AI-upgraded Siri experience like?
We've been waiting for the answer for some time. Apple first promised users a newer, smarter, Apple Intelligence-powered Siri two years ago, and the company has since faced lawsuits after it failed to deliver. (The company settled a class action suit related to these claims for $250 million.)
Well, post-WWDC, we know a lot more about Apple Intelligence in general. We know Siri will understand what's on your screen. We know Siri will be smarter in general, powered by Gemini. And as Apple daddy Craig Federighi has been at pains to point out, AI Siri will not try to suck you into conversations and be your friend.
"Siri really wants to say, 'I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world," Federighi said. "But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that."
There you have it: If you want to fall in love with an Apple product, fall in love with the all-new iPhone 18, not its chatbot.
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men’s grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he’s also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl.
Tim studied print journalism at the University of Southern California. He currently splits his time between Brooklyn, NY and Charleston, SC. He's currently working on his second novel, a science-fiction book.
