While Apple is yet to disclose any information on its upcoming iPhone 18 series, the rumour mill is churning out new information every now and then. A latest leak has offered some information on the expected price and specifications of the standard iPhone 18. Previously, reports have suggested that instead of launching it alongside Pro models in September, the company is planning to bring the iPhone 18 in early 2027. Some reports also suggest that the company is not planning to increase the price of the iPhone 18 even after soaring memory prices.
A tipster who goes by the name Fixed-Focus Digital Cameras (translated from Chinese), in a recent post on Weibo, claimed that the iPhone 18 could arrive with various downgrades, including manufacturing process, chipset specifications, and RAM. The tipster suggests that the company may make further downgrades in other specifications of the iPhone 18. MacRumors in its report says that the tipster has verified this information from multiple sources.
The move is said to be part of Apple’s effort to keep the price of the iPhone 18 the same as the iPhone 17 despite increased input costs. These downgrades will also bring the standard iPhone 18 closer to the purported iPhone 18e.
Rising costs put pressure on pricing
This leak has arrived at a time when RAM prices are increasing due to rising demand for AI compute power. Apple, last year, did increase the price of the iPhone 17 in certain markets but also bumped the base variant storage to 256GB. In India, the iPhone 17 arrived at a starting price of Rs 82,900, which was an increase of Rs 3,000 over the iPhone 16, while the price remained the same in the US.
Questions around product differentiation
If the leak holds true and Apple does decide to downgrade the iPhone 18, it is not clear how the company will differentiate between the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e. Currently, the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e differ in their Dynamic Island, display size, ProMotion, brightness, the front-facing camera, the ultra-wide camera, and battery life.
Expected upgrades still in play
Meanwhile, previous reports have suggested that the iPhone 18 could feature the new A20 processor based on a 2nm process, which should improve both speed and battery life. Reports also suggest that the iPhone 18 base model could see a jump to 12GB RAM. This would bring it closer to the higher-end models and help with multitasking. Some reports also suggest that Apple may upgrade the front camera to a 24-megapixel sensor.
