Earlier this week we heard reports that Apple was planning to divide the release of iPhone 18. Instead of sending out all four flagship iPhones in September – which has been ideal for almost 20 years – the phone manufacturer can divide it into a bipolar release.
It is apparently that the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and iPhone fold will be commonly found, while iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Air and iPhone 18E will land in the spring.
A division that I do not understand at all.
Not due to division, it is very common for most other phone manufacturers. But because Apple can release the last entry-level iPhone. And with a little cheaper iPhone 18E to boot.
In my brain, it is a completely irrational way of releasing iPhones.
IPhone 18 should be released first
The main thing is that I cannot find my head around that Apple wants to release the iPhone 18 Pro and not the iPhone 18 first. This is like releasing the extended cut of a film before the dramatic cut – it is just no meaning.
The fact is that the iPhone 18 is considered a base model for the entire lineup, and everything else is considered for it. Standard iPhone is sometimes called “Entry-Level” model for a reason.
Not only this is the cheapest model, appealing to those who are not filled with spare cache, it is also a benchmark by which people compare the entire lineup. If you do not have a standard iPhone to compare, you may not have a “Pro” iPhone.
Apple holding the release back will also be said that “This phone is not as good as we tried to sell you 6 months ago. But you should buy it anyway.” And, at the same time, offering another cheap phone that is not quite impressive, and is acting somehow as if both these devices will not be directly in competition with each other.
I think there is something poetic about Apple that combines its most expensive and cheapest phones simultaneously in its different small release windows. But, like poetry, it does not mean that it actually creates any kind of logical meaning.
The way I can see this making, it is that if someone in Apple decided that keeping the iPhone 18 back will promote Pro sales. As there are huge crowds of outside people who would have bought a standard iPhone 18, but are now so excited for a new iPhone that they buy the iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone fold out of frustration.
This will be a way to try and increase profit margin, I think. But as long as I am sure people exist like this, I am not sure they exist in significant numbers so that it can be very different. Especially since people are already used to keep their phone longer.
What should the apple do instead
Instead of combining the phone simultaneously based on the potential value tag, Apple should go about the iPhone 18 launch with some general knowledge. Or, at least, copy what all his rivals are doing.
For example, Samsung always releases its three base Galaxy S models at the beginning of the year. Foldables come in summer, and other devices appear to be randomly. We are talking about the mid-range options such as the Galaxy S25 Edge, S24 Fe and Galaxy A56.
Apple’s portfolio iPhone Air is about to start complicated with an adjacent launch of foldables and whatever he wants to be e-series. So all this needs to be done to simplify things and iPhone has to launch its basics back.
Assuming around the September launch rod, the Apple Core can stick with three iPhone models that have been over the years. So we will have iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
In this way you have your standard model, a little better option, and the huge phone with the best hardware you have introduced (and a price tag to match).
Fastly forward six months and you release the second wave of iPhones. The niche iPhones which do not have the same levels of appeal as the mainline trio.
The iPhone 18e, for those who want a little cheaper apple phone, and the air of the iPhone 18 who likes to spend money on super-leaf and light phone for all types of people. You can easily throw the iPhone folds into this launch window, as well as offer an ultra-pramium option that does not do something iPhone.
Still better, 1 March launch will release the first major foldable phone of this new year – which will beat Samsung, Google and Motorola.
Ground level
If Apple is willing to adopt a bipolar release cycle for new iphones, I receive it completely. This is not without example, and it means that it is not squeezing all the largest iPhone news over a few weeks periods. Excluding it gives more space to breathe new models, and perhaps will help increase the price of Apple’s stock.
But if Apple is going to do so, it needs to implement some general knowledge for complete action. Not only do not only pump all expensive models, and hopefully leads to those who refuse to wait for cheap models.
If you are going to release the iPhone 18 series, then you actually need to release the iPhone 18 a day – not six months later. The rest can wait.
