Leakers Clash Over Conflicting iPhone 18 Pro Redesign Rumors

You know the next iPhone is going to be interesting when leakers can't get on the same page. Following several reports that the iPhone 18 Pro would ditch the current Dynamic Island cutout in favor of a punch-hole on the left upper corner of the display, a new batch of leakers say that those reports got it all wrong. They claim that the Dynamic Island will shrink but not disappear.

Well-known Weibo leaker Instant Digital says other sources misunderstood what Apple plans to do with Face ID on the iPhone 18 Pro. With rumors suggesting that the company might put the TrueDepth sensor under the panel, Instant Digital claims that the only component that Apple will be put underneath the display is the infrared flood illuminator.

ShrimpApplePro, another leaker on X, also corroborates Instant Digital's post and reporting from display analyst Ross Young. Apple will seemingly follow in the footsteps of the iPhone 14, as a few years after the notch debuted on the iPhone X, the company eventually introduced a smaller notch on the iPhone 14, and ultimately moved all of those component into the Dynamic Island. In this case, Apple might be shrinking the Dynamic Island's size before being able to add all the sensors underneath the display.

It's worth noting that all of the leakers who say the iPhone 18 Pro will still have a Dynamic Island centered at the top of the display have a plenty of credibility — especially Ross Young, who has long been one of the top display analysts of the market. On the other hand, a report from The Information by Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu says the exact opposite, suggesting that Apple is moving the selfie camera to the top-left corner.

What makes these contradictions so intriguing is that Ma also has a history of accurately leaking Apple news. For example, Ma was responsible for leaking the Apple Vision Pro design years before it was revealed, and he was also among the first to note that the iPhone Air wouldn't feature stereo speakers. Ma's reporting also aligns with the latest video from Jon Prosser, who continues to share Apple leaks after the company sued him:

Still, it's possible that leakers will retract previous reports as they receive new supply chain information and Apple moves forward with the final design of its new phones. For example, there were reports that Apple was testing Touch ID capabilities on recent iPhones years after the company discontinued the feature, which hasn't come to pass. That said, Apple could be testing several possible designs and will end up choosing between one of these two options.

Besides the new Dynamic Island cutout, some leakers believe Apple could use a new display technology that Samsung has been teasing for a while, which adds a privacy layer without requiring an additional screen protector. The new iPhone 18 Pro is also expected to feature the A20 Pro chip, which should use a new 2nm manufacturing process, making a huge leap in performance but also power efficiency.

Besides that, Apple should bring the usual camera improvements to its next-gen smartphone. Meanwhile, the rest of the phone should remain the same, as the company is likely saving a complete redesign for 2027, which is when it reportedly plans to introduce the iPhone 20 to celebrate its the iPhone's 20th anniversary. Rumors so far suggest Apple is working toward building an all-screen phone.

Apple has plenty of noteworthy product launches in store for the next couple of years. There new reportedly be new iPhone "e" models, a second-gen iPhone Air, the introduction of the company's first foldable, and even a new special phone to celebrate another decade of the world's best-selling smartphone.