The iPhone 18 Pro is already putting 2026 Android phones to shame

The 2026 Android landscape is quickly taking shape. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series has leaked to death, OnePlus already launched its big phone for the year, Google’s next Pixel A handset is right around the corner, and Motorola is getting back into the flagship race.

We frequently give Apple flak for releasing the same phone year after year, but 2025 was different. In addition to adding huge changes to the base iPhone 17 and trying something completely new with the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 Pro was one of the most significant upgrades we’ve seen from Apple in years.

The new aluminum design, while somewhat controversial, was a bold redesign that largely paid off. The new 48MP telephoto camera is outstanding, as is the genius Center Stage selfie camera. Pair that with a powerful A19 Pro chip, good battery life, and faster charge speeds, and the iPhone 17 Pro was exactly the upgrade we’ve been waiting for.

Given all that, it would be safe to assume the iPhone 18 Pro will be a quieter release with no meaningful changes. However, if the latest rumors and reports are true, we’re in for another year of major upgrades across the board.

One of the most significant reported changes is that Apple’s Face ID sensor will be hidden underneath the display, while the front-facing camera is moved to the left corner, and the display bezels are smaller than ever. Dynamic Island is expected to remain, but the hidden sensors, repositioned camera cutout, and slimmer bezels should give the front of the iPhone 18 Pro one of the biggest visual refreshes since the iPhone 14 Pro.

The new A20 chipset is expected to be built on a 2nm design (smaller than the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5), and the primary camera may feature a variable aperture for greater control over lighting in photos and videos. And to top it all off, Apple will reportedly upgrade the iPhone 18 Pro’s satellite connectivity to support 5G networks.

Just think about all of this for a moment. For Apple to potentially deliver a refreshed design, a meaningful new chip, new camera hardware, and a game-changer for satellite connectivity — all just one year after the iPhone 17 Pro — is huge. These are not insignificant changes we’re talking about, and to get this immediately after the iPhone 17 Pro sounds too good to be true.

Assuming these reports about the iPhone 18 Pro are accurate, Apple’s Android competitors have their work cut out for them. After such a successful iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro shaping up the way it is, 2026 is the year Android brands need to step it up.

Unfortunately, there’s slim hope of that happening. Based on where we’re at right now, the iPhone 18 Pro is already putting 2026 Android phones to shame.

The OnePlus 15, while technically released in November 2025, is positioned as OnePlus’s flagship phone for this year. And as a 2026 Android flagship, it misses the mark on a few counts — including downgraded camera sensors, poor thermal performance, a generic design, and more than a few questionable software changes. The OnePlus 13 was crowned as our favorite Android phone of 2025, but the OnePlus 15 completely failed to live up to its predecessor’s success.

Samsung is about to enter the 2026 flagship race, and its outlook doesn’t appear any brighter. All signs point to the Galaxy S26 series being a copy-paste job of the Galaxy S25 lineup, which we just criticized last year for being too similar to the S24 family. We haven’t heard anything confidence-inspiring about Samsung’s next trio of flagship Android phones, and there’s a reason why my colleague Rita says the Galaxy S26 is already the worst phone of 2026.

What else do we have to look forward to? The Motorola Signature is a promising re-entry into flagship phones from Motorola, but at the time of publication, there are no plans for US availability. The Pixel 11 series could be exciting, but based on how disappointing an upgrade the Pixel 10a is shaping up to be, that’s not a guarantee either.

And … that’s about it. It’s always possible that Samsung, Motorola, or Google will surprise us with something big, but there’s currently no indication that any of them will. And if not, I don’t foresee a future where any of these 2026 Android handsets can properly compete with the iPhone 18 Pro.

I say all of this as a longtime Android fan and user — as you’d expect from someone writing for Android Authority. But I’m also a realist, and when I take a step back and look at the iPhone 18 Pro compared to what the Android world will supposedly offer in 2026, I don’t see how Apple doesn’t win that fight every single time.