The development of the iPhone 18 is apparently in full swing, as it's expected to debut in the fall of 2026. And, Apple has now reportedly secured memory supplies for the upcoming lineup and Samsung will be its primary supplier.
According to South Korean publication Hankyung, Apple has turned to Samsung for the production of DRAM for the iPhone 17 series and the latter will also be involved in the large-scale production of memory units for the iPhone 18 models.
The report mentions that Samsung will be shipping around 60–70% of the LPDDR5X found in the iPhone 17. This development is contrary to earlier reports that suggested the South Korean company and SK Hynix will share equal volumes for the same.
The primary reason for this decision appears to be the global RAM crisis, which is expected to increase smartphone prices next year. And since its current suppliers – Micron and SK Hynix, have jumped on the production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) units for data centres, Apple has majorly settled for Samsung's DRAM units to continue its iPhone production.
This could be great news for iPhone users, as securing memory units at this stage can help Apple prevent a price hike for the iPhone 17 as well as the upcoming iPhone 18 lineup. However, the Cupertino company might still have to rely on Micron and SK Hynix to ship the remaining 30–40% of its memory requirements.
Besides RAM, the iPhone 18 will feature the Apple C2 modem, ditching Qualcomm in the process. Early rumours also suggest a semi-transparent iPhone 18 Pro design that will apply to the Ceramic Shield portion of the back. The upcoming lineup is only expected to go official in 2026 fall, so we'll know more details about the iPhone 18 in the following months.
