What is the iPhone 18 and when will it launch?

Evidence-backed: The iPhone 18 belongs to Apple's iPhone line of smartphones, which the company has developed and marketed since 2007 and has released annually. The iPhone article describes the current lineup as including the iPhone 17, the lower-end iPhone 17e, the lighter and thinner iPhone Air, the more feature-rich iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and the foldable iPhone Duo. This places the iPhone 18 within a family of models that spans standard, lower-cost, thin, high-end, and foldable designs.1

Evidence-backed: The History of the iPhone article states that the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max were introduced in 2026, following the iPhone 17 in 2025. That is the only timing information the sources provide about the iPhone 18 family.2

Evidence-backed: Apple has released new iPhone models annually, and by the end of 2009 iPhone models had been released in all major markets. The History article places the iPhone 17 in 2025 and the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in 2026. No source here gives a month, day, or event for an iPhone 18 announcement or release, and none states whether a standard iPhone 18 launched alongside the Pro models or separately.21

Evidence-backed: The iPhone line began with the first-generation iPhone, announced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at Macworld 2007 and launched in June 2007. It was the first mobile phone to use multi-touch technology. Over its history the line gained larger, higher-resolution Retina displays, video recording, waterproofing, and accessibility features. As of July 2025, more than three billion iPhones had been sold, and Apple has been the largest vendor of mobile phones since 2023.1