iPhone 18 + Fold Leaked! First Look!

Recently, we've seen some big leaks for the entire iPhone 18 lineup. So today I wanna show you what the iPhone 18 Pro is actually going to look like because it's completely different than what was initially rumored. We've also gotten our potential first look at the iPhone fold with evidence of how Apple's breakthrough display is going to work. So there's a lot of things that have come out this early on and I wanna start off first with the 18 Pro. See, initial rumors for the iPhone 18 Pro pointed to a dramatic design change this year. With Apple repositioning at the front selfie camera from the middle of the screen over to the top left-hand corner and essentially getting rid of dynamic island completely. Honestly, it looked pretty strange and the universal reaction was that people did not like this look. So I am happy to report that this was just a misinterpretation of what Apple is doing and the actual look is going to be way different. According to this newest leak, Apple is not moving the camera at all. It's going to remain centered on the iPhone but it will be placed in a smaller dynamic island that is said to be about 35% narrower than what we have right now. So it'll be the first time dynamic island has changed in size since it debuted in 2022. So now all this makes sense but where did this rumor of the top left-hand camera come from then? Well, if you look at the actual face ID camera component that is leaked alongside this, it really adds up. Interesting enough, this part shows Apple splitting the main camera to the right and putting the face ID flood illuminator below the display but in the top left-hand corner. So I think sources saw this and got confused because it kind of looks like a camera in the top left-hand corner but when you examine it a bit closer, it's just a component of face ID that will actually be placed completely under the display. However, this year the smaller dynamic island is just a piece of a much larger display upgrade that Apple's working on for both the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. Sources say the iPhone 18 Pro will be Apple's first with an LTPO Plus display which takes the existing architecture and just makes it a little bit better in a few key ways. LTPO Plus displays are said to be more efficient so they could contribute to better battery life. They also run cooler with a smoother refresh rate and they get significantly brighter too. And we've specifically heard about that brightness part from one other source saying that Apple has set an unprecedented standard for brightness this year, so much so that one company is getting kicked out of Apple's supply chain because they can't get the screens bright enough on their end. Unfortunately, the exact nits brightness has not leaked yet but with current iPhones already going up to 3,000 nits, even seeing 3,500 or 4,000 would be a significant increase and have a direct impact when you look at your iPhone in direct sunlight. As for the rest of the iPhone 18 Pro design, it's said to look pretty similar to the current 17 Pros. Apple is sticking with the aluminum unibody design so titanium is not making a comeback but they're aiming to make the two-tone appearance on the back more seamless. So the colors just kind of blend together and look a bit more subtle. Although the chassis is getting a little bit thicker as Apple wants to squeeze an even bigger battery inside. Really, the only other notable design change on the 18 Pro is an updated camera control button with Apple removing some of the functionality. While the current button supports touch and pressure sensitivity as well as the option to physically click it, apparently most people don't actually use the touch or swipe gestures. So Apple is getting rid of that entirely and the new version will only support pressure and click. They're also doing this, of course, to save some money because the current iteration is pretty expensive to manufacture but I mean, I never use the touch sensitivity anyway. I don't think most people will miss it and although it is rare to see Apple backtrack on a big feature that is less than three years old, at the end of the day, a simpler camera control button is not gonna be a problem for most people that forget it's a feature in the first place. Following that, the iPhone 18 Pro is also going to get Apple's A20 chip which has some pretty nice performance and efficiency gains as well as Apple's latest privacy and security improvements. But unfortunately, even using an iPhone isn't enough to keep your data safe and protected online. Every year, the number of data breaches continues to increase and it can leave a lot of your personal stuff exposed for data brokers to buy and sell without you even knowing. So that's why I parted up with Incogni who sponsored today's video. See, Incogni works on your behalf. They reach out to all of these data brokers for you and they ask them to stop using your stuff. Plus with Incogni, they even support custom removal requests. So if you search your name online and you see something out there that probably shouldn't be, you can send that link directly to them and they'll do everything in their power to get that personal information removed. So take your personal data back with Incogni. Use code APPLETRACK at the link below to save 60% off an annual plan at incogni.com slash APPLETRACK. A huge thank you to Incogni for sponsoring this part of the video. Now let's get back to it. Overall though, the look of the iPhone 18 Pro is pretty tame and completely different from the next iPhone Apple's releasing this fall that is the iPhone Ultra or the iPhone Fold. Apple's first ever foldable phone is coming out in less than a year. For months, we thought we knew exactly what this device was going to look like, described as two iPhone Airs sitting next to each other, connected via a central hinge in the middle. But now a new leak has shown us the actual design and I don't know how to feel about it. This hands-on video of the iPhone Fold shows the same book style design we've been expecting, but one that is way shorter and wider. So it got me wondering why Apple would be doing this and of course it's for good reason. Well, when you have a form factor that is shorter and wider, while unfolded, you actually get a screen that is more familiar than it seems. It's shaped like an iPad. It is a four by three display, one that has also been rumored prior, but that we had never really seen up until this point in the real world. And of course we've also rendered it out so you can see for yourself a detailed view of this display. It does look pretty wild. Not to mention this also lines up with previous rumors saying that the Fold would use this four by three aspect ratio. And I will say it does make sense when you're watching videos. Friend of the show, Quinn Nelson recently pointed out that it gives you the most screen real estate for something like YouTube. And considering all of the new windowing features Apple added in the latest version of iPad OS, I totally see a world where they port some of that to the iPhone that now exists in your pocket. We've also learned recently how Apple is going to achieve their display. Guess who the supplier of Apple's display is gonna be? It's Samsung. And at CES this year, Samsung conveniently showed a prototype of a foldable phone without a visible crease. Of course, to be fair, if you look really close here, you can kind of zoom in and see the slightest crease in the middle, but it is nearly imperceptible. And keep in mind, Apple is also developing in-house a proprietary liquid metal hinge to absorb any of the crease that remains. At the end of the day, the iPhone Fold was built around the display and everything else comes secondary. Just look at the industrial design. It looks kind of awkward and chubby from a lot of angles. Although it's made of Apple's most premium materials, lots of glass and titanium, it just doesn't look like an iPhone to me. Add on top of that confirmation yet again that there will only be two rear cameras placed inside of the raised camera plateau, a wide and ultra wide 48 megapixel sensor, but no telephoto on this device. Personally, even after a week of staring at these renders of the iPhone Fold, I don't really think it's a good looking device. I mean, maybe Apple will change my mind with a few details that we don't know about, but right now I have seen foldables that look better than this, straight up. Still, it doesn't change the fact that pretty much every component of the iPhone Fold is completely new, designed from the ground up specifically for this new model. And it's why it is going to be dummy expensive. For a while, we thought it would cost $1,800 and then it got rumored to go about $2,000. So twice the price of normal pro iPhones. And now another rumor has pushed that price tag even higher with this latest analyst pointing to a $2,399 price tag or 2,400 buckaronis for the iPhone Fold. That is straight up MacBook Pro high-end laptop territory. The thing is, I think $2,400 could be low still. And here's why. Existing foldables today started $1,800 from Google and $2,000 from Samsung. Now, do you really think Apple is going to enter the foldable market at the same price as the competition? Like when has Apple ever done that in the past 20 years? They have never gone on the low or mid end. Whenever they do something new, they always go super high. And Vision Pro setting its absolute and catastrophic failure to the side is the perfect example of that. This too was not the first VR headset, but Apple tried to solve really complex problems that nobody else had done before. It costs $3,500 and nobody bought it. I think the folding phone will have more of an appeal, but Apple's not making the Fold a mass market product. Apple is making the iPhone Fold to flex their engineering talents and try to make a dent in a market that has not seen a lot of adoption. To this day, folding phones make up less than 1% of global market share. And I guess this is Apple trying to change that. Although I'm still skeptical of folding phones as a product and that's a video for another day. But hey, Apple's doing it and I'm here for the ride. So I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, drop a like down below. Hit subscribe for more on the iPhone 18 and Fold as we get closer to release. I've been Sam. Hope you're doing well. Catch you in the next one. Bye bye.