Apple released the iPhone 17 range back in September of last year to great fanfare. Where the iPhone 16 line up might now be considered interactive, the iPhone 17 impressed by upgrading the base model to finally have a 120Hz ProMotion display with always-on, while the Pro models had a new design with improved cameras and a bold orange colour option.

Apple also unveiled the svelte iPhone Air, a £999 iPhone with just one camera but an exceptionally thin 5.6mm frame and premium build.

Now rumours and leaks for this year’s suspected iPhone 18 line up are emerging, and the latest whispers paint a different picture than what we have previously heard.

According to leaker Digital Chat Station (via 9to5Mac), who posts supply chain details on upcoming products, Apple is preparing to launch at least four new iPhones in 2026. This is in contrast to rumours that the firm would not release a base model iPhone 18, only introducing an 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max alongside a long-awaited foldable iPhone.

Though this leak does not mention a folding iPhone, it does name an iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 alongside an iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Translated, here are the details Digital Chat Station is claiming summarise the next batch of iPhone displays:

• iPhone 18 – 6.27-inch LTPO 120Hz screen with Dynamic Island
• iPhone Air 2 – 6.55-inch LTPO 120Hz screen with Dynamic Island
• iPhone 18 Pro – 6.27-inch LTPO 120Hz screen with new under-display area
• iPhone 18 Pro Max – 6.86-inch ​​LTPO 120Hz screen with new under-display area

These screen sizes are identical to the iPhone 17 range, as well as the iPhone Air. It suggests that Apple intends to give year-on-year updates to its slab-phone line up, which now all have 120Hz LTPO ProMotion screens. LTPO technology allows the screens to scale all the way down to 1Hz, which reserves power when functions like the always-on display are in use, extending battery life.

Not only does this imply Apple will bring an iPhone 18 to market in the autumn, but also somehow update the iPhone Air. It had been thought Apple might choose to keep the original in the line up, perhaps at a lower price. But this suggests the Air will get an update, though because this leak is only to do with display panels, we don’t know if the design will change or if the Air will gain a second rear camera lens.

While the iPhone 18 and Air 2 are thought to keep the current Dynamic Island sensor design, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are said to have a “new under-display area”. According to 9to5Mac, this could mean the cut-out will be smaller in size than on the current crop of iPhones, though other rumours point to a hole-punch design that is in the top left corner of the screen.

I am inclined to believe the former. The latter does not sound like a design choice Apple would make. Top corner hole-punch cameras are very much Android design from 2019, and not recognisably the notch design Apple has carried through since the iPhone X in 2017.

Then again, that was nine years ago. Perhaps Apple is ready to change its iPhone silhouette? Digital Chat Station opts not to use the term ‘Dynamic Island’ to describe the Pro phones’ cut outs, hinting at a change.

With the rumoured launch of a foldable iPhone to finally take bendy screen phones mainstream, the Apple iPhone event this year is shaping up to be a big one.