iPhone 18: What Launched and What Slipped to 2027

Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at Apple Park, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific, under the tagline "Surprise and shine". Apple showed the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, its first foldable, the iPhone Duo, the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and AirPods 5. Sources: Apple, MacRumors.

Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 5:00 a.m. Pacific, with the phones reaching buyers on Friday, September 18 in more than 65 countries and regions. Apple skipped Friday the 11th, as had been predicted, because it falls on the 25th anniversary of September 11. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac.

Only the Pro ones. The iPhone 18 Pro (6.3 inches) and the iPhone 18 Pro Max (6.9 inches), plus the separate foldable, the iPhone Duo. The standard iPhone 18, the iPhone 18e and the iPhone Air 2 were not announced, and reporting puts them in spring 2027. Sources: Apple, PopSci, MacRumors.

Not in 2026. Apple has announced no date, and the consistent reporting is spring 2027, alongside the iPhone 18e and the iPhone Air 2. That splits the iPhone year in two for the first time: Pro and foldable in the autumn, the affordable models six months later. Until Apple confirms it, the exact month is still reporting rather than fact. Sources: PopSci, MacRumors.

$1,199 for the iPhone 18 Pro with 256GB and $1,299 for the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Storage runs to 512GB, 1TB and, for the first time on an iPhone, 2TB. That is $100 over the iPhone 17 Pro, well under the $300 increase some August leaks had predicted, which would have meant about $1,399. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac, Macworld.

The A20 Pro, the first iPhone chip on a 2-nanometre process. Apple gives it a 6-core CPU (two performance cores, four efficiency cores), a 7-core GPU with 40% faster graphics, a 32-core Neural Engine, 50% more memory bandwidth and a larger vapour chamber for cooling. The pre-launch leak of "up to 18% faster" undersold the graphics side considerably. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac.

Yes, and it is the real headline. The 48MP Fusion main camera now has a physical variable aperture on both the Pro and the Pro Max: the lens opens and closes like a pupil, so you get hardware control over depth of field instead of a software blur. Apple also exposes manual aperture and shutter speed, adds a faster night mode, and introduces Apple Reference Image for verifying that a photo is authentic. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac.

No. The year-long rumour of Face ID disappearing under the screen did not land. What shipped is a smaller Dynamic Island that can now hold three Live Activities at once, with the design otherwise carried over from the iPhone 17 Pro. A smaller cutout, not an invisible one. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac, MacRumors.

Four: Black, Glacier (a pale blue), Silver and Burgundy (a deep red). The "Dark Cherry" finish that leaked all summer was close in spirit to Burgundy but not the name Apple used. Source: Apple.

Apple rates the iPhone 18 Pro Max at up to 30 hours of video playback, and says the smaller iPhone 18 Pro now matches what the iPhone 17 Pro Max used to do, which is the more interesting claim of the two. Wired charging is faster than last year. Source: Apple.

Neither: it is the iPhone Duo. "iPhone Fold" was the leak placeholder for two years, "iPhone Ultra" was the press consensus in the final fortnight, and Apple used neither. It starts at $1,999, opens from a 5.4-inch outer screen to a 7.6-inch inner display, and goes on sale October 23 after pre-orders on October 16. Sources: Apple, MacRumors.

Not the same day, but close. iOS 27 arrives on Monday, September 14, 2026, five days after the keynote and four days before the Pro models reach buyers. It supports the same devices as iOS 26, meaning iPhone 11 and newer, and its headline features are the rebuilt Siri and an expanded Apple Intelligence. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider.

The full video is still free on the apple.com event page, in the Apple TV app and on Apple's YouTube channel. No account and no Apple device needed. The product pages, updated at the end of the presentation with real specifications and prices, are usually more useful than the film itself. Source: Apple.

If you want a new iPhone now, the Pro models are the only ones on offer until spring, and $1,199 buys the best chip and the most interesting camera Apple has shipped in years. If your budget was aimed at a standard iPhone, waiting is not a choice: the iPhone 18 is reported for spring 2027, so the iPhone 17 and 17e remain the cheaper options in the meantime. If the big screen is the point, that is the iPhone Duo at $1,999, from October 23. Sources: Apple, PopSci.

A new iPhone 18 Pro feature for proving a photograph is real. It records verification data with the image so the original capture can be distinguished from an edited or generated version, which is Apple's answer to a world where any image can be synthesised. It arrives with the Pro models. Sources: Apple, 9to5Mac.