With the iPhone 18 lineup that's planned for 2026, Apple is making major changes. There will be tweaks to the launch timelines of various iPhone models, plus rumors suggest that Apple is planning to debut its first-ever foldable iPhone

The full iPhone 18 lineup is expected to include the iPhone 18, the low-cost iPhone 18e, iPhone 18 Air, the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the all-new iPhone 18 Fold, though naming for the new foldable hasn't been established. That's a lot of iPhones, so the four more expensive models will launch in fall 2026 and the less expensive models will follow in early 2027. The iPhone 18 Air, Pro, Pro Max, and Fold will come in September 2026, while the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e will launch in 2027.

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With the iPhone 18 lineup, Apple is going to change the timing for new iPhone releases. The more expensive iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max iPhones will launch in the fall of 2026 as usual, alongside the new foldable iPhone and the iPhone 18 Air, but the more affordable iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e models won't come out until spring 2027.

Multiple rumors suggest that Apple's first foldable iPhone will launch in the fall of 2026, with the device coming alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. It's not clear what Apple plans to name the device at this time.

Design and Display

The first foldable iPhone will open up book style, which means it will have a smaller outer display and then a larger, wider open display. Design wise, it will be similar to the Pixel Fold or the Galaxy Fold.

When folded, the iPhone will have a display that's around 5.5 inches, and when open, it will have a much larger 7.8-inch display. It could be as thin as 4.5mm when unfolded, and around 9mm when it is closed, though rumors have differed on thickness. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks it will be 4.5mm, while Weibo leaker Instant Digital says it's going to measure in at 4.8mm thick when open.

The outer display will be usable when the device is closed, but opening it up will provide access to the larger inner display. Apple is expected to use a titanium casing, and the design is meant to minimize the creasing.

Apple will use ultra-thin glass for the foldable iPhone, with Samsung set to create the displays. The outer display is expected to have a hole-punch rear camera, while the inner display will use under-display camera technology.

Analyst Jeff Pu believes the foldable iPhone will have a frame that's made from titanium and aluminum. Apple could use titanium for the stress bearing parts of the frame to ensure that it doesn't bend, and aluminum in other areas for heat dissipation and to keep weight low.

No Crease

Rumors suggest the first foldable iPhone will have no visible crease or a nearly invisible crease, unlike most of the foldable devices on the market. Apple pursued eliminating the crease regardless of cost, and ensuring no crease is why it took Apple so long to design a foldable iPhone.

Apple is using a combination of titanium and stainless steel for the hinge, along with liquid metal. The design minimizes creasing and improves durability.

No Face ID

The foldable iPhone might use some version of Touch ID in a side button instead of using Face ID, but Apple isn't planning for under-display Touch ID.

Rear Camera

The foldable iPhone camera will have a Main lens and an Ultra Wide lens with no Telephoto lens. Rumors suggest that both lenses will be 48 megapixels, which isn't too surprising because current iPhone models have 48-megapixel lenses.

Pricing

The foldable iPhone could cost nearly twice as much as the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and Apple could price it somewhere between $1,800 and $2,500, which is double what the iPhone 17 Pro costs.

Possible Delay?

One rumor claims the foldable iPhone could be delayed until 2027 because Apple hasn't made key design decisions for components like the hinge, but it is not clear if that is accurate.

Apple's first foldable will see the addition of a new high-end flagship model to the iPhone lineup, but Apple is still planning to launch standard iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max devices.

Design

The iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to feature the same general design as the iPhone 17 Pro models, offering a triple-lens rear camera system with camera plateau. Rumors suggest that the Ceramic Shield area for MagSafe charging could be "slightly transparent," but it is not clear what that means.

Sizing

Apple isn't expected to change the sizes of the iPhone 18 Pro models, and they will feature the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the current models.

Under Display Face ID and Design

There have been rumors suggesting the iPhone 18 Pro models will include under-display Face ID, with the TrueDepth camera hardware located under the display, but there has been some disagreement over whether we'll actually see the under-screen technology in 2026.

The Information's Wayne Ma has believes that iPhone 18 Pro models will have no Dynamic Island with just a pinhole cutout located at the upper left of the display, but other rumors suggest there's still going to be a Dynamic Island.

Analyst Ross Young said that the iPhone 18 Pro models could have under-display Face ID, but that doesn't mean there won't be no Dynamic Island at all. Instead, the Dynamic Island will be smaller.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also said that iPhone 18 Pro models will have a slimmed down Dynamic Island, which contradicts rumors of no Dynamic Island. Chinese leaker Instant Digital claims that there will be a smaller Dynamic Island, but no under-display Face ID or under-display camera.

Variable Aperture Lens and New Sensor

The Main camera in the iPhone 18 Pro could have a variable aperture, which would provide users with more control over how their photos look. iPhone users would be able to manually adjust how much light gets to the sensor, cutting down on overexposure and providing new customization options for lighting and depth of field.

At least one of the iPhone 18 Pro models could feature a new three-layer stacked image sensor developed by Samsung. The advanced image sensor would make the camera more responsive, plus it could cut down on noise, increase dynamic range, and more.

C2 Modem

Apple's next-generation C2 modem chip is expected in 2026, and it is expected to be more capable than the current C1 and C1X. The C2 could feature mmWave 5G connectivity, and it will be closer in performance to the Qualcomm modem chips that it will replace.

A20 Chip

The iPhone 18 Pro models and the foldable iPhone will use Apple's A20 chip. The A20 will use TSMC's 2nm process for power and efficiency improvements.

The transition to 2nm will allow for more transistors in each chip, which will boost performance. The A20 chips could be up to 15 percent faster and 30 percent more efficient than A19 chips.

The A20 chip will be packaged with TSMC's Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) technology, but it's not clear if this change will be limited to the higher-end models.

With WMCM, the A20 chips will have RAM integrated directly onto the same wafter as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, rather than the RAM being adjacent to the chip and connected via silicon interposer. The update to WMCM could bring faster performance for Apple Intelligence and longer battery life, while also cutting down on the size of the A20 chip to allow more space inside the iPhone for other components.

Apple is planning to continue to offer the iPhone "Air" series in 2026, and the iPhone 18 Air could be released in September 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and the new foldable iPhone.

The next iPhone Air will presumably use the same form factor as the current iPhone Air, with Apple adding an updated chip, a new modem, and other under-the-hood improvements.

The lower cost iPhone models won't be Apple's focus in the fall of 2026, and we know little about them other than they are in development at the current time. Apple won't release them until spring 2027.

The iPhone 18 models could feature a simplified Camera Control button without a capacitive sensor, which would cut costs. Pressure sensing will still be available for all of the button functions.

The foldable iPhone, the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the next iPhone Air could come out in September 2026, while the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e could follow in spring 2027.