Since 2011, Apple will release its new iPhone devices in September and the entire line provides an update. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple wants to change this strategy and bring new iPhone devices to the market twice a year.
This year Apple has already done this with the iPhone 16th and next fall, the company will launch the iPhone 17 series. In the future this will be expanded further and the iPhone series will be completely split. The premium devices will appear in the autumn and the ‘standard’ models appear in the spring.
New iPhone twice a year
Last fall, Apple released the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. In the spring she released the iPhone 16th. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple would like to further expand this strategy in the coming years.
To be able to compete with other brands and to keep the company fresh, Apple would like to spread the release of new iPhone models over the year. With the premium devices in the fall and the standard models in the spring.
Scheme outlines Apple’s new strategy
To give a clear picture of Apple’s new strategy Kuo shared a schedule. This new strategy actually started in 2025 and includes the following updates for the coming years.
- Spring 2025: iPhone 16th
- Autumn 2025: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17
- Spring 2026: iPhone 17th
- Autumn 2026: iPhone Foldable, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Air
- Spring 2027: iPhone 18, iPhone 18th
- Autumn 2027: iPhone Foldable 2, iPhone 19 Pro Max, iPhone 19 Pro, iPhone 19 Air
- Spring 2028: iPhone 19 and possibly also iPhone 19th
Kuo’s route map for upcoming iPhone releases shows that Apple is planning to split its announcements and release of new models. Especially in 2026 we will notice the first major change if the standard iPhone will not be unveiled in the fall, but in the spring of 2027.
Strategy shift required
The analyst mentions two important factors that control this strategy shift. Firstly, Apple’s competitors usually release new flagship phones in the first half of the year, creating a “marketing gap” that wants to close Apple.
Secondly, the growing iPhone line-up from Apple’s “marketing efforts” is in danger of being launched “when all models are launched at the same time. This gives the iPhone a boost in the spring so that all models remain up -to -date and interesting.
Apple’s shift to a split-cycle roadmap would be the first time that Apple deliberately separated its flagship iPhone-Line releases since setting up its autumn launch pattern with the iPhone 4S in 2011.