Apple has stuck to a familiar iPhone launch schedule for years, with its latest models typically arriving like clockwork every September. But this year, the regular iPhone 18 was nowhere to be seen.
While some might be disappointed by the six-month delay, I think Apple made the right call. Not only does it give the long-awaited foldable iPhone more room to shine, but it also highlights an uncomfortable truth about modern smartphones: we probably don’t need a new one every 12 months.
Apple has broken tradition for the first time in years
September is known for one thing in the tech calendar: new iPhones. Apple has stuck to the same launch schedule for its iPhone collection for years at this point, a trend it kicked off back with the iPhone 4S. Yes, there have been a few slips here and there – it shifted to October in 2020 during the height of Covid, for example – but for the most part, flagship iPhones have launched in September.
But not this year.
For the first time ever, Apple decided against launching the base-level iPhone alongside its Pro-level siblings. We saw the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, complete with the rumoured variable aperture on its main 48MP camera, big battery upgrades and boosted Apple A20 Pro power, but the regular iPhone 18 was a no-show.
Instead, the rumours suggest that Apple is holding off on launching the iPhone 18 for another six months, with plans to reveal it alongside the next-gen iPhone Air and the iPhone 18e at an event in Spring of 2027.
It’ll likely appear sometime between March and May; while the flagship iPhone hasn’t launched in Spring before, Apple has used the window to launch other variants of iPhone – namely the budget-focused iPhone SE and iPhone ‘e’ models – and products like the iPad Pro and iPad Air.
Blame the foldable iPhone
Of course, we know the real reason that Apple didn’t launch the iPhone 18 earlier this week – the iPhone Duo. Apple’s first foldable iPhone has been a long time coming, with rumours circulating for literally years at this point, and it had to be a big part of the September launch event.
It makes sense too; this is the first time Apple has debuted a phone in this form factor, and it has done so years after much of the Android competition, so it needed to take more time to explain what makes it so special.
While the segment for products like the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 was over in a little over 12 minutes, Apple took around 25 minutes to showcase the foldable iPhone, from hardware elements like the hinge, dual-cell battery design, screens and cameras, to small software additions that really elevate the foldable experience on the whole.
Now there is an argument that Apple could’ve simply extended the event to make room for the iPhone 18, and that is true, but I imagine there were fears from Apple execs that it’d simply get lost in the shuffle with the more advanced (and more exciting) Pro and Duo models.
It’s clear that those models would get most attention from attendees, media and likely diehard Apple fans, not giving the regular iPhone 18 a chance to really shine. By separating the launches by six months, Apple likely hopes that the iPhone 18 will get the attention it deserves, rather than being a more basic version of the shinier, cooler iPhones.
In reality, we don’t need a new iPhone every year
Now I don’t think this was Apple’s intention by shifting the iPhone 18 launch by six months, but it has really got me thinking; do we really need a new model of iPhone every 12 months? Now, more than ever, probably not.
The iPhone 17 remains just as capable a smartphone as it was just a year ago. It has a fantastic screen with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, capable dual 48MP cameras, solid battery life and great performance that still beats much of the Android competition. And, anecdotally, it seems like it’s more popular than ever; I know three people who have bought one in the past six weeks.
And, let’s be honest, the iPhone 18 probably won’t be that much better. It’s not like it was a decade ago when each generation would represent a massive leap forward in tech; nowadays, yearly upgrades are much more incremental – a chip bump here, a slight boost to battery life there – while big overhauls and genuinely shiny new tech are much rarer.
With that shift, it doesn’t really make as much sense for manufacturers to launch new phones every 12 months. I’d argue that waiting a little longer and implementing more meaningful upgrades and tweaks would be the far better play. Let’s make phone launches genuinely interesting again, guys.
That said, with the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro, there are newer generations of iPhone now available, and the iPhone 17 is a year old, so a price cut to reflect this slightly older status would’ve been a nice way to placate fans.
But instead, Apple quietly did the opposite, raising the price of the iPhone 17 – along with the iPhone Air and iPhone 16 – by £100 in the UK and $100 in the US following Wednesday’s event. I mean, I get it: RAM and storage are more expensive than ever, and the new iPhones are also £/$100 more than last year, but it does feel a bit cheeky.
Either way, I do think that Apple was right to delay the launch of the iPhone 18 – though likely not for the same reasons as those at Apple Park.
