Apple's base iPhone 18 will reportedly debut next spring alongside the more affordable iPhone 18e, breaking with the company's traditional September launch cycle. According to a Chinese leaker, Apple is implementing significant cost-cutting measures for the vanilla model due to rising chip prices, resulting in downgraded specifications across the board.

The downgrades allegedly affect the chipset's manufacturing process, chip specifications, and memory - either in amount or speed. This makes the vanilla iPhone 18 the closest to an 'e' model in terms of specs that Apple has ever produced. The exact specifications being downgraded remain unclear, whether compared to the iPhone 18 Pro models or the current iPhone 17.

If these represent genuine year-over-year declines from the iPhone 17, that device suddenly becomes an even more compelling purchase for value-conscious consumers looking to avoid the cost-cut compromises.