New iPhone 17 and iPhone 18 chipset, camera and display leaks suggest you might want to wait until the iPhone 18 is upgraded
- It looks like there won’t be a 5x zoom upgrade for the iPhone 17
- The iPhone 18 is tipped to get an LTPO+ screen upgrade
- A major chip improvement could also take place with the iPhone 18
We’ve just seen a series of leaks surrounding the iPhone 17 (due September 2025) and the iPhone 18 (due September 2026) – and if the information in them is correct, you might want to wait until the latter handset is out for your next iPhone – upgrade.
First, a report in a respected South Korean outlet The Electric (via 9to5Mac) says Apple’s camera module suppliers are upgrading their manufacturing facilities, ready to release cameras ready for the iPhone 17 Pro.
However, according to the report, there will be no periscope lenses for the standard iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Air (or iPhone 17 Slim). That apparently means there won’t be a need for a 5x optical zoom upgrade next year to rival the Pro and Pro Max.
Read our iPhone 16 review and you’ll see that it comes with a 48MP main camera and 12MP ultra-wide camera on the back, just like the iPhone 16 Plus, without optical zoom capabilities. There could be camera upgrades next year, but it doesn’t look like a 5x optical zoom will be among them.
Displays and chips
Exclusive: Apple is reportedly planning to use upgraded LTPO+ panels for the iPhone 18 Pro series, replacing the current LTPO panels. LTPO+ is a display technology that has not yet been introduced to the market. It is expected to improve speed and energy efficiency compared to…November 20, 2024
Our second piece of information comes from an established tipster @Jukanlosrevewhich says an LTPO+ display technology upgrade is in the offing for the iPhone 18 series. LTPO (Low Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) is the technology that enables dynamic refresh rates and always-on displays that don’t shorten battery life.
While we’re not getting any information on what the ‘plus’ variant of LTPO entails, we assume it means further performance improvements and energy efficiency improvements to reduce battery demands even further.
Last but not least, Chinese leakage Digital with fixed focus (via @Jukanlosreve) says there won’t be any major improvements in the A19 chips made for the iPhone 17, but there will be in the A20 chips for the iPhone 18 – which may be made with help from Intel.
Apple currently partners with TSMC (the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) for its iPhone processors, so a move to Intel would be significant – and could make the iPhone 18 a more attractive upgrade than next year’s iPhone 17.