Apple iPhone 18 said to get surprising design upgrade, with more RAM also coming to iPhone 18e

The Apple iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to be officially unveiled in September. For months now, rumors from numerous sources have suggested that, for the first time, the base model will not be unveiled alongside the Pro models, but rather in the spring of 2027, around the same time as the more affordable iPhone 18e. As 9to5Mac learned from analyst Jeff Pu, Apple is planning a surprising design upgrade compared to the iPhone 17 ($759 on Amazon).

This is because Apple is also expected to incorporate the redesigned, smaller Dynamic Island into the iPhone 18, which is also anticipated for the iPhone 18 Pro. As previous leaks have shown, Apple is embedding the infrared projector invisibly under the AMOLED panel, so that only the front-facing camera and the infrared camera for secure 3D facial recognition remain in the pill-shaped punch hole. This is expected to make the punch-hole about one-third smaller, meaning it will cover less of the active display area. It will also leave more space to display background activities, such as music playback or navigation, in the screen area around the punch-hole.

While rumors have previously been divided on whether the iPhone 18 will receive an upgrade from 8 GB to 9 GB or 12 GB of RAM, Jeff Pu states that both figures are correct – but for different models. The iPhone 18e is expected to offer 9 GB of RAM, while the iPhone 18 will have 12 GB, just like the iPhone 18 Pro (Max). Apple’s AI features are likely to benefit most from this RAM upgrade. Since it’s likely to be more than half a year before the iPhone 18 launches, rumors about this model should still be taken with a grain of salt.