Apple is planning to shuffle its iPhone launch schedule subsequent 12 months because it releases the primary foldable iPhone to make issues extra manageable, stories The Data. The plan is for the foldable to return out with the iPhone 18 Professional and “Air” fashions, whereas the usual iPhone 18 will get shunted again to the spring of 2027, releasing alongside an iPhone 16E follow-up, in line with the outlet.
With the slimmer mannequin within the lineup and a foldable anticipated in 2026, The Data says Apple must shuffle issues round to maintain a ballooning six-iPhone lineup manageable. As for what the foldable will seem like, the outlet writes that Apple goes with a book-style type issue, reasonably than clamshell, with a 5.7-inch display when closed and a just-under-8-inch show when open. Provide chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has beforehand urged it will likely be 4.5–4.8mm thick when unfolded and can use Face ID, reasonably than Contact ID.
The report contains different tidbits, like that Apple will introduce a brand new battery case for the iPhone 17 Air, as its testing has apparently proven that, by itself, the cellphone’s battery life “will fall wanting that of earlier iPhones.” Additionally, The Data says the iPhone 18 Professional and 18 Professional Max fashions will get long-rumored under-display Face ID sensors, leaving the gadgets with solely a “small gap cutout within the top-left nook” for the cellphone’s front-facing digicam.
