Apple’s much-rumored plan to split up its iPhone launch cycle beginning this year has gained additional street cred, thanks to a new report from Nikkei Asia that jibes with earlier claims from several sources, including Bloomberg and Ming-Chi Kuo.
Nikkei Asia’s sources tell it that Apple’s plans are to ship its first foldable iPhone alongside iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models in the second half of 2026, while the standard iPhone 18 will debut in the first half of 2027.
Many are also expecting to see an updated iPhone 18e to debut in the first half of 2027. While Nikkei’s report fails to mention a second-generation of the iPhone Air, many believe the updated slim handset is in Apple’s pipeline, although most do not expect a 2026 release.
By staggering their iPhone releases, Apple can better optimize resources and better deal with component shortage, rising memory and storage costs, and other supply chain pressures.
The report also mentions the additional pressures faced by Apple, including how some of its suppliers have shifted resources toward AI companies like Nvidia, Google, and Amazon.
It should be noted that Apple has not officially announced any intent to make changes to its traditional iPhone release schedule.