iPhone 18 Pro to bring only minor changes
By Arthur Berg
According to Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max won’t be major upgrades. The changes are expected mostly under the hood – including a new variable aperture camera system, the A20 chip, and Apple’s own C2 modem – but visually and feature-wise, it’s shaping up to be more of an evolution than a reboot. The real spotlight this fall, Gurman suggests, could be on Apple’s first foldable iPhone, rather than the usual Pro lineup.
This seems to echo Apple’s tried-and-true strategy: introduce big updates on one product line while holding back on others. For consumers, that means fewer reasons to upgrade their Pro models every year; for the industry, it signals a shift in marketing focus and supply chain priorities.
What’s changing with the iPhone 18 Pro
Gurman highlights a few specific hardware upgrades, but the overall message is that these will be “minor” improvements over the iPhone 17 Pro.
- Variable aperture camera system – offering more flexible shooting modes and potentially better image quality in various lighting conditions;
- A20 chip – the next Apple processor delivering improved performance and energy efficiency;
- Apple’s own C2 modem – a step toward reducing reliance on third-party modem suppliers;
- Design and interface tweaks will likely be subtle, with no radical visual changes.
Why this matters for the market
If the Pro models really feel more like “S” updates, two immediate effects come into play. First, owners of recent iPhones will have fewer reasons to upgrade every year, further lengthening device replacement cycles. Second, Apple is clearly swinging attention toward the foldable iPhone, aiming to justify its high prices and expectations by focusing marketing on this new category.
Component suppliers will also feel the shift: manufacturers of foldable display modules and new camera parts will get priority, while those producing components for “traditional” Pro models will see more modest order growth. For companies like Qualcomm, Apple’s move with the C2 modem could mean lost revenue if the company keeps pushing its in-house solutions.
What’s next
Apple is unlikely to abandon regular upgrades to the Pro lineup, but this upcoming cycle might be a quieter one. Expect 2026’s fall marketing to spotlight the foldable iPhone – the real test of whether Apple can reinvigorate the foldable smartphone market and siphon demand from the traditional Pro series.
The open question: will the foldable iPhone attract enough buyers to offset the slower upgrade pace among Pro users, or will Apple bring back major innovations in the next generation to reignite demand?
