The iPhone 17 is doing incredibly well for Apple, but a leak claiming the iPhone 18 launch was moved because of it is simply false.
For years, as regularly as clockwork, Apple has released its main batch of iPhones in the fall. Many rumors claim that Apple will stop doing this in September, releasing the iPhone 18 Pro models but holding back the iPhone 18 until the following spring.
However, a Weibo leaker believes that the decision was strategic to take advantage of the massive popularity of the iPhone 17. It’s a belief that is frankly false.
In its May 5 article, leaker Fixed Focus Digital explains how Apple “is truly aiming to wipe out Android” through a “very clever market adjustment mechanism.” This mechanism matches the rumor that the iPhone 18 would be delayed until spring 2027.
This model will have degraded memory due to the current RAM supply crisis, but Apple has chosen to delay the release. The reason for the delay was to “extend the market buzz of the previous generation”, referring to the iPhone 17.
For Apple, the leaker claims that this will help reduce production costs and increase its market share.
While AppleInsider checked through multiple machine translations of the message to account for translation errors and other discrepancies, they all still had the same meaning. In any case, this translates to “Apple’s delay will increase the market share of the iPhone 17 and reduce production costs.”
These benefits will be felt by Apple, but it is certainly not a choice aimed specifically at prolonging the sales of a successful model.
Timing Coincidences
The problem with the leaker’s message is that the discussion around a split generation version of the iPhone has been circulating for a considerable time.
In July 2025, another leaker, Instant Digital, reported a split launch. At the time, they said the iPhone 18 lineup rollout would be staggered until early 2027.
We can also go back further than that. By May 2025, supply chain sources of The information said Apple would stagger iPhone launches in a fall and spring model starting in 2026.
These were supported by another report from ETNews in August of the same year. Again, the Pro models would launch in the fall as usual, but the standard iPhone 18 would land in the first half of 2027.
The takeaway here is that this all dates from mid-2025, well before the memory crisis became a problem for the tech industry. It’s a decision that Apple certainly thought about long before the May 2025 leak.
Apple’s motivation to split production this way makes sense when you consider Apple’s usual manufacturing schedules and iPhone demand. With high-end models getting the most attention early on, it makes sense to peg production of the standard model until later, when demand is usually higher anyway.
The leaker is correct that Apple is taking advantage of the delay in several ways. They are completely wrong to say that this is a decision reflecting the current state of the smartphone market and the problems in the industry.