What’s an iPhone 18?
To start, let’s talk about the iPhone 18, which had a pretty funny upset today when it was made clear that the iPhone 18 punch hole reports were just a translation error. Oh, the Face ID sensors are still being moved below the display, at least on the iPhone 18 Pro, but there won’t be any punch holes.
No, no, the iPhone 18 will apparently feature a smaller Dynamic Island, not a punch hole. Of course, the last two months of reports on an iPhone 18 punch hole can’t really be taken back now, can they? And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
No one really knows what Apple is aiming for with the iPhone 18 launch. Reports have come in that the company is changing up its release schedule, and that the base model will actually come out in early 2027. Wait, what?
Yeah, apparently Apple wants its base and e-series models to compete with the Samsung phones that come out around the same time. As such, many of the reports that now come in aren’t exactly clear on whether they’re talking about the iPhone 18, the iPhone 18 Pro or something else entirely.
The whole foldable iPhone and iPhone Air ordeal
Then there are the foldable iPhone and the iPhone Air, which I’ll bundle with the iPhone 18 series for convenience.
No one can make up their mind on whether the foldable iPhone, slated for launch later this year alongside the iPhone 18, will have a crease-free display or not. Samsung has solved the foldable crease problem, which I honestly think it did just to compete with Apple, but half the industry seems to think that Apple won’t be using this display for its foldable. Instead, the foldable iPhone will still, allegedly, feature a minor crease.
However, the leaked dimensions of the foldable iPhone have spurred Samsung — and a couple of Chinese phone makers too, reportedly — to make new foldables of their own. Samsung, for example, is working on a “Galaxy Z Wide Fold” that will launch alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and feature the same dimensions as Apple’s foldable.
However, Samsung already rushed to market with a new model last year to combat the iPhone Air too, when it announced the Galaxy S25 Edge shortly after the iPhone Air leaked. That phone failed to sell well, and the future of the Edge series is now uncertain. Most insiders seem to agree on the fact that there won’t be a new Edge phone this year when the Galaxy S26 comes out.
The rush for under-display Face ID
As if all of that wasn’t enough, Chinese phone makers are apparently rushing to perfect under-display 3D face recognition hardware in anticipation of the iPhone 18. Because, as mentioned previously, Apple is shifting Face ID below the display of the iPhone 18.
I have no doubt in my mind that, when the iPhone 20 Pro moves everything below the display, numerous other manufacturers will follow suit. I’m also interested to see whether Samsung will switch back to under-display cameras again, when it has just abandoned them on the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
And I haven’t even mentioned the numerous new phones that have come out since the iPhone 17 Pro that mimic its design. Multiple phone manufacturers are also making “Air” phones of their own, and Xiaomi has immediately copied Liquid Glass from iOS 26, as well as introduced a Dynamic Island of its own.
Apple has just gotten started with the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 18, the foldable iPhone, and the iPhone 20 will continue this new trend of novel concepts each year. As exciting a time as this is for Apple fans, the chaos across the smartphone world as everyone tries to catch up is very amusing to see.
I don’t understand why so many phone makers seem to believe that they need to make products exactly like Apple, but I’ve got my popcorn ready.
