2026 is shaping up to be the year of iterative phone upgrades. From the budget Google Pixel 10A to the flagship Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus , we’ve seen some of the most boring generation of phones. But on the other hand, phones like the Galaxy Z TriFold, Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Oppo Find N6 are keeping things interesting and making this year a strong follow-up to 2025, which saw Samsung reinvent the Galaxy Z Fold and Apple announce an all-new, slim and light iPhone Air . There should be room for a few more surprises later this year but the RAM shortage and increasing competition around generative AI are creating a larger challenge for phone-makers to overcome. And that puts more pressure on brands to release bold designs and add features that are as useful as they are innovative. The folding phone market is expected to attract more entrants. We could finally see Apple launch a folding iPhone and rumors say that Samsung might release a wide-screen foldable , similar to the Huawei Pura X . The bottom line? There are still a bunch of exciting smartphones to look forward to in 2026. Phones that have already been released in 2026 Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Google Pixel 10A Apple iPhone 17E Xiaomi 17 Ultra Vivo X300 Ultra Oppo Find X9 Ultra Motorola Razr 2026 and Razr Fold Apple The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max marked the return of vibrant colors to Apple’s highest-end iPhones. Prakhar Khanna/CNET A split iPhone 18 launch strategy Apple introduced a slew of upgrades with the iPhone 17 line — an 18-megapixel selfie shooter, upgraded rear camera optics, thermal cooling on the Pro variants, among other updates. It also added the thin iPhone Air to the lineup. This year, the Cupertino company could shake up its iPhone launch timeline. For years, Apple has continued to announce the base iPhone model alongside its Pro siblings, while also experimenting with Mini, Plus and Air variants. This could change in 2026. According to a report from The Information and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo , the Cupertino-based company may push the launch of the vanilla iPhone 18 to early 2027 in a bid to make space for the iPhone Fold. Apple could still announce multiple iPhone models in September 2026, but the lineup and timing would look slightly different. Later this year, we could see the launch of the next-gen. iPhone Air, iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in new colors and the all-new iPhone Fold. But the standard iPhone 18 is tipped to be released alongside the iPhone 18E in March 2027. The new Apple iPhone launch cycle might be: March 2026: iPhone 17E September 2026: iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18 Pro/Pro Max and iPhone Fold March 2027: iPhone 18 and iPhone 18E September 2027: iPhone Air 3, iPhone 19 Pro/Pro Max and iPhone 20 (named to honor the 20th anniversary of the original iPhone’s 2007 debut ) Since the standard iPhone 18 model is rumored to be released in 2027, let’s focus on the iPhone variants that are more likely to be launched this year. Apple iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max CNET’s Jeffrey Hazelwood created these custom renders of what an iPhone 18 Pro might look like in purple, coffee and burgundy. Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNET The iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to have the same design language as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max but be available in new colors. Apple is said to be considering three color options to replace 2025’s cosmic orange : coffee, purple and burgundy. I’d love to have a burgundy or coffee brown iPhone 18 Pro . I’m more intrigued by the latter, thanks to CNET Jeffrey Hazelwood’s mock-ups of the iPhone 18 Pro in purple, coffee and burgundy, which you can see above. Both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, as the current models. However, Apple is rumored to opt for an under-display Face ID True Depth camera to make the Dynamic Island smaller. There have also been rumors about the iPhone 18 Pro lineup including an under-display Face ID, alongside a punch-hole cut
Sumber: CNET