iPhone 18 Pro and folding iPhone may launch on September 8

According to expert Mark Gurman of Bloombergdespite concerns about the wave of device price increases, Apple will still maintain its roadmap to launch new generation smartphones. The company traditionally holds events on the Tuesday or Wednesday after Labor Day in the US (first Monday of September). Based on that rule, September 8 is considered the most feasible, while September 9 is the next backup plan.

Gurman said that maintaining the September launch schedule brings a strategic advantage to Apple, helping the company take advantage of media effects to boost sales, paving the way for good fourth-quarter revenue, as well as having enough time to prepare supplies for the peak year-end shopping season.

Although the launch time is near, the excitement of Apple product lovers is said to be somewhat affected by negative information about prices. The global memory chip crisis causes the price of the new iPhone generation to increase by 200-300 USD. Previously, the company also adjusted the prices of most iPad and MacBook lines.

This year’s iPhone 18 Pro model is expected to have many valuable upgrades such as a processor chip manufactured on a 2 nm process, a scaled-down Dynamic Island cluster, an aperture-changing camera and longer battery life. However, analysts say these improvements are not revolutionary enough for users to accept the more expensive price. Meanwhile, the folding screen iPhone, possibly named Ultra, is also estimated to start at over $2,000.

Theo PhoneArenasmartphone users are burdened with an invisible “AI tax”, meaning they have to spend more money on hardware, while AI features on mobile devices have not really completely changed the way phones are used every day.

The source also said that Apple may only sell the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max at the end of September, while the iPhone Ultra will hit shelves in November or December, and the standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 will be available on the market in early 2027.