Apple plans to change the iPhone 18 launch roadmap

The standard iPhone 18, second generation iPhone Air and iPhone 18e are said to not be released next September as Apple's usual practice.

According to Macrumors, this will be the first time Apple has changed its roadmap after many years of announcing four new iPhone versions at its annual event in September. This technology site said the rumor has appeared since the beginning of the year but has just been confirmed by a source from the supply chain.

Specifically, Apple will divide the iPhone generation into two launches each year. The iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max and folding screen iPhone models will be released next month, while the iPhone 18, 18e and Air 2 models will appear in the first half of 2027.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that this strategic change comes from two factors. First, they address Apple's "marketing gap" with its competitors, including Samsung and Chinese firms that often launch new products early in the year. In addition, the new roadmap helps the company not to distract its product promotion efforts when the iPhone has a new member, the foldable line.

The Information also commented that the phased approach helps Apple manage production resources more effectively when the number of iPhone lines increases to 6 instead of 5 as before. This reason becomes convincing in the context of market scarcity of chips and memory due to the fever of building data centers for artificial intelligence.

Many sources confirm that, in addition to the two iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max models launched in early September and sold about a week later, Apple's event will feature the folding iPhone Ultra line. However, the device will be sold later, possibly at the end of the year in markets like Vietnam.

Information about the new roadmap does not worry the Apple device business in Vietnam. According to a retail system, in the first sales, Vietnamese people mostly chose the Pro and Pro Max lines with a rate sometimes reaching over 90%.

"iPhone 18 coming later won't have a big impact on total sales while it can keep the standard version fresh early next year," this person commented.

However, the iPhone 18 generation in general will not avoid the market's upward price trend. Analyst Jeff Pu at GF Securities believes that the price of the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max could be from 250 to 300 USD more expensive than the current version. iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max start at $1,099 and $1,199 respectively.

According to him, the reason for the price increase is the high cost of manufacturing processor chips on the 2 nm process, combined with the increased prices of DRAM and NAND flash. Apple is facing a serious component supply shortage due to the global AI infrastructure boom that has "eaten up" the output of semiconductor manufacturers.