Apple to smooth out iPhone release schedule starting next year

Apple’s flagship iPhone 17 Pro Max
For years up to and including 2025, Apple has stuck to a predictable fall rhythm for its flagship iPhones: dropping two premium Pro variants alongside two more accessible non-Pro options. It has also sprinkled in occasional budget-friendly SE or “e” refreshes during the spring. Yet starting in 2026, this cadence is set for a dramatic pivot, ushering in a biannual rollout that could redefine the smartphone calendar for the foreseeable future.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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Apple will move away from the annual fall spectacle that it made so famous over the last decade.
Apple plans to unveil three high-end models — the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and a new foldable — in fall 2026. Then, roughly six months later, it will roll out the iPhone 18, iPhone 18e and potentially a refreshed iPhone Air. I expect this pattern to continue for years to come, with Apple launching between five and six new models annually.
The Information reported that a second-generation iPhone Air had been postponed from next fall into 2027 in order to add a second rear camera (and that a vapor chamber and beefier battery are in the cards). The news outlet also cited poor sales as a cause for the schedule change.
But from what I’ve heard, the second-generation iPhone Air hadn’t actually been earmarked for next year — at least not in recent months. So this wasn’t a delay due to the phone’s sales performance. The fact that Apple named the device the iPhone Air (rather than the iPhone 17 Air) signaled that it didn’t want to tie the product to an annual release… While Apple would never say this publicly, the truth is that the iPhone Air is essentially a technology exercise and a prototype en route to the foldable iPhone.

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MacDailyNews Take: Smoother is better.

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