The iPhone 18e will do the job… if the job is to put in the absolute minimum effort

All eyes are on the upcoming iPhone Fold (even non-Apple fans are watching, as they are expecting an Epic Fail moment), but Cupertino has to meditate not just on its most expensive phone ever but also on its cheapest. Or does it?

I'm talking about the upcoming iPhone 18e, which should be the third installment in the iPhone "e" series, which is the successor to the good old iPhone SE concept.

For people who want the latest iPhone – but also the cheapest one – the "e" series is the only way ahead. Samsung has a whole galaxy (pun intended) of multi-colored mid-rangers and budget phones, while Apple is opening just a single door for you.

Any good?

The latest rumor has it that Apple probably won't exhaust itself when it comes to substantial upgrades with the iPhone 18e, which is expected in early 2027 alongside the vanilla iPhone 18 and possibly the iPhone Air 2. The iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro duo, as well as the aforementioned iPhone Fold (that's an unofficial moniker, but I like it) are expected at a point in September 2026.

So, there's still plenty of time left until the iPhone 18e drops and in theory, changes could be made. That's not what the leak above says, though. Apparently, Cupertino has already finalized the iPhone 18e.

And no major changes in terms of design and hardware (of course, a new chipset is expected).

That's really disappointing, but it's also logical: the iPhone 17e is a serious upgrade over the iPhone 16e – and we're getting such serious upgrades once every two years.

As a reminder, the recently-unveiled iPhone 17e comes with a faster Apple A19 chip, much more durable Ceramic Shield display protection, MagSafe support, 15W wireless charging, Apple's new C1X chip (for better connectivity), a few in-app camera tweaks, double the storage for the same starting price and an even cheaper 512 GB model.

All of the above is either missing, weaker or lower on the iPhone 16e.

The two phones share the same 6.1-inch OLED display, the same battery and the same camera (in terms of hardware).

This should be a winning formula and it could be said in advance that Apple has finally found an entry-level iPhone model that sells. Recent research indicates that the iPhone 16e accounted for about 9% of all Apple iPhone unit sales in the US during 2025. This slightly exceeded the roughly 8% share achieved by the iPhone SE (3rd generation) when it launched in 2022. By comparison, the last budget-oriented model before the 16e was the iPhone 13 mini, which represented only around 1% of US iPhone shipments by volume in 2023.

What would make the iPhone 18e great?

If it's not too much to ask – and in 2027, it's certainly not, so I hope you're getting the sarcasm I'm pouring on top of Tim Cook's head – a 120Hz display would be great. Enough with the 60 Hz shenanigans already. While many report that 60Hz on an iPhone is much better than 60Hz on an Android phone, it's a matter of principle. Time to move on.

I may be crucified for saying this, but I firmly believe that the iPhone 18e screen should stay at 6.1 inches. I, personally, have no problem handling larger phones, but many people swear by compact phones. They actually don't want large panels – they want the minimalistic experience. Some of those users form the potential iPhone Flip fanbase, but that's a device we won't see in the near future… allegedly.

As far as the eventuality of the notch removal or installing a second camera: yeah, dream on, buddy. That's the cheapest iPhone, so you can't expect Apple of all companies to serve you with anything but the bare minimum.

I'd be glad to see a slight bump in the battery department – again, we can't expect miracles, but Apple's rivals have been bragging about jaw-dropping battery numbers in the 10,000 mAh ballpark.

What if Apple doesn't do it?

No biggie. Apple fans may be left a bit unsatisfied, but Apple has an already great budget phone on its hands – that's the iPhone 17e.

Even if the iPhone 18e is a mediocre upgrade, Apple is clearly signaling that this bad boy (or, better yet, this well-behaved, modest boy) is not a top priority for the company. Clearly, Cupertino wants to shift all of our attention to the Pro models and the Fold in the autumn.

That's where the real stakes are.