Apple's launch cadence for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max is now less than a year away. And today, we've just received a major inkling as to the form factor for Apple's next premium iPhones, as well as a juicy tidbit regarding its upcoming budget offering, the iPhone 17e.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are up for a major form factor revamp, and iPhone 17e to sport wireless charging
To wit, as per the new tidbit, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will get rid of the pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout, resorting to a punch hole selfie camera on the top-left corner instead.
Moreover, the iPhone 18 Pro will also feature an under-display Face ID module. In other respects, however, the iPhone 18 Pro will resemble its iPhone 17 Pro counterpart.
Also, the iPhone 18 Pro will either feature a C1X modem or the upcoming C2 modem along with the N1 networking chip.
Also, Apple is expected to remove touch sensitivity and haptic feedback from the base iPhone 18. It remains unclear if this removal of the button's capacitive layer would extend to the Pro models as well.
This aligns with a previous rumor from a Chinese tipster, who had declared back in October that Apple was likely to eliminate the capacitive induction layer within the camera control button of next year's iPhone 18 lineup, retaining only a pressure-sensing layer.
In contrast, the iPhone 17e is expected to feature the C1-series modem, sans the N1 chip. The budget offering from Apple is also expected to sport "magnetic wireless charging."
Today's reporting echoes previous claims by the notable Chinese tipster, Digital Chat Station, who recently asserted in a Weibo post that Apple is currently testing a "special HIAA hole-punching solution," indicating that the iPhone 18 Pro series might sport a punch-hole cutout for the front camera.
As per an aggregation of the various tidbits and rumors surrounding the iPhone 18 lineup, we now know the following about Apple's upcoming design and tech choices for the next iPhones:
- The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are likely to feature 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, matching the display sizes found on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
- The iPhone 18 Pro duo might also sport a stainless steel vapor chamber.
- Apple is likely to eliminate the capacitive induction layer within the camera control button of next year's iPhone 18 lineup, retaining only a pressure-sensing layer.
- The duo is also expected to sport a three-layer, stacked image sensor.
- Apple is testing at least one new color option for the iPhone 18 Pro, with either brown, purple, or burgundy likely to end up as a final color option on Apple's next iPhone lineup.
- The iPhone 18 Pro duo is expected to sport the A20 Pro SoC, which will leverage TSMC's 2nm process node and CoWoS (Chip on Wafer on Substrate) packaging, facilitating a tighter integration between the processor, unified memory, and the neural engine.
- The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will also use Apple's in-house C2 modem.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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