Apple may stagger next year’s iPhones to make way for a foldable

Apple is planning to shuffle its iPhone release schedule next year as it releases the first foldable iPhone to make things more manageable, reports The Information. The plan is for the foldable to come out with the iPhone 18 Pro and “Air” models, while the standard iPhone 18 gets shunted back to the spring of 2027, releasing alongside an iPhone 16E follow-up, according to the outlet.

With the slimmer model in the lineup and a foldable expected in 2026, The Information says Apple needs to shuffle things around to keep a ballooning six-iPhone lineup manageable. As for what the foldable will look like, the outlet writes that Apple is going with a book-style form factor, rather than clamshell, with a 5.7-inch screen when closed and a just-under-8-inch display when open. Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously suggested it will be 4.5–4.8mm thick when unfolded and will use Face ID, rather than Touch ID.

The report includes other tidbits, like that Apple will introduce a new battery case for the iPhone 17 Air, as its testing has apparently shown that, on its own, the phone’s battery life “will fall short of that of previous iPhones.” Also, The Information says the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max models will get long-rumored under-display Face ID sensors, leaving the devices with only a “small hole cutout in the top-left corner” for the phone’s front-facing camera.