Apple supplier Pegatron today indirectly confirmed that the standard iPhone 18 model will not be released until next year, according to a new report.
Pegatron held an earnings call for the second quarter of 2026 today. On the call, Taiwan's Economic Daily News said Pegatron indicated that one of its customers will be changing its usual smartphone shipment schedule. As widely expected, the report said Apple plans to release the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a foldable "iPhone Ultra" this September, followed by the standard iPhone 18 model in the first quarter of 2027.
The standard iPhone 11 through to the iPhone 17 all launched alongside Pro and Pro Max models in September over the years, so the launch of the base model iPhone 18 being postponed until around March 2027 would be a notable change.
Apple's plans to split up the launch of the iPhone 18 series has already been widely rumored by sources such as Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, former The Information reporter Wayne Ma, and others over the past year. Apple supplier Largan Precision also hinted at the change in a similarly indirect way earlier this year.
A lower-end iPhone 18e and an iPhone Air 2 are also expected to be released around March 2027.
In total, six new iPhone models are slated to launch by the end of March:
- iPhone 18 Pro: September 2026
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: September 2026
- iPhone Ultra: September 2026
- iPhone 18: March 2027
- iPhone 18e: March 2027
- iPhone Air 2: March 2027
