Why Apple did not launch successor of the ‘world's most-popular’ iPhone

Apple has launched the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Duo – its first foldable smartphone – at its Surprise and Shine event. Fans also expected the Cupertino-based company to also unveil iPhone 18, the successor of the iPhone 17 that emerged as the world's bestselling smartphone in 2026 in the second quarter of 2026 (Q2 2026). Instead, the company broke from years of tradition. Rather than unveiling an entry-level iPhone 18 alongside its high-end tier, Apple reserved the keynote exclusively for premium hardware.The regular iPhone 18 was entirely missing from the presentation.