There May Not Be an iPhone 18 This Year

An iPad has several advantages over a laptop, including its touch screen and portability. But depending on what you want to do, it might not be enough. The pros and cons of using an iPad as a laptop.

Big Tech Apple The pros and cons of using an iPad as a laptop The iPad can be a sleek and versatile replacement for a laptop, but there are some drawbacks to know about. By Will Shanklin Sept. While the answer in the first few generations was "only for the most casual users," it's become more nuanced since then.

Today, whether you're casual or professional, it depends on what you expect out of a computer and how much friction you're willing to deal with. For work like email, web browsing, video calls and writing, you won't miss much by using an iPad instead of a laptop. With iPadOS 26 and later, Apple's updated windowing system makes it even easier to forget you're using a mobile device.

(That is, if you also have a quality keyboard and trackpad.) But if your needs extend beyond those basic tasks, the iPad becomes a less convincing answer. While it can do almost everything a laptop can, big gaps in software, Apple's closed ecosystem and the iPad's touch-first nature could lead to more awkwardness than you'd like. Think of it as replacing a laptop brilliantly about 90 percent of the time, with a few frustrating exceptions making up the remaining 10 percent.

Apple should announce several products at its September event next week—including a folding phone—but the iPhone 18 might not be among them. It would be a first for the company.

There May Not Be an iPhone 18 This Year. Save this story Save this story Every year around this time, Apple announces new iPhones.

The products go on sale soon after, usually ranging from a base model to more premium and more expensive Pro models. But this year will likely be different—not just because the company has a brand-new CEO.

Apple’s iPhone event will be held on September 9 at 10 am Pacific (1 pm Eastern), announced last week with the title “Surprise and Shine!” If you tune into the livestream, expect the announcement of an iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and, if all the rumors and widely held analyst expectations are true, the first look at an Apple foldable device. Based on leaks and the ongoing tech rumor mill and its decent track record for figuring these things out, Apple should prioritize its more expensive, premium devices this year and hold off on announcing its base model iPhone 18.

That cheaper model may launch in the spring of 2027, potentially alongside an iPhone 18e and maybe a second-generation iPhone Air. Why the drastic change in strategy?

It may be due to the ongoing memory shortage, which has made just about everything more expensive. Apple hasn’t been spared.

In June, former Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that Apple would raise product prices to keep up with manufacturing costs. “Then the mid/budget devices will be launched in the spring.” Popal says it's a smart strategic move because Apple is aiming to spread out its revenue between a usually very strong fourth quarter and a typically much weaker spring quarter the following year.

Apple’s portfolio has also expanded, and the iPhone Pro and Pro Max lineup are more enticing for people already prepared to spend the money on a new iPhone. When components become more expensive, companies have three real options: Eat the costs, raise prices, or, as Apple seems to be doing, lean into it.

By moving its cheaper options to a later date, Apple can drum up excitement for its bigger, better, pricier offerings. When it charges more for those, it is likely to be less off-putting than making a cheap phone even more expensive.

It’s part of a “premiumization” of devices, as Popal calls it, that Apple hopes to uses and build hype for its pricier options. Shawn DuBravac, chief economist at the Global Electronics Association, tells WIRED he is optimistic about what these kinds of rising prices ultimately mean for customers.

“Throughout the history of time, the deflationary pressures of technology have always flowed to the consumer,” DuBravac says. “I'm confident that will be the case again.

It just will take some time for the markets to solidify.” In other words, new technologies launch with a high price, but manufacturing efficiencies and competition inevitably drive costs down for consumers. That may not be the case anytime soon for folding phones, which are seeing higher prices than ever.

Samsung’s entire 2026 Galaxy Z folding smartphone range saw price increases, as did Google’s new Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and Motorola’s Razr 2026 models. Apple’s folding iPhone may cost around $2,000.

To help mitigate those high costs, Apple is turning to financing options and trade-in programs. In July, the company launched an iPhone leasing program that lets people pay a monthly fee to rent the newest iPhones, then swap them out when a new device releases.