The year has barely begun, and there are already plenty of rumors about the next crop of iPhones. From a possible folding model to a brand-new iPhone 18 lineup, 2026 (and beyond) looks to be very interesting for the tech giant’s mobile division. 

The iPhone 18 is rumored to have several changes from its predecessor, including variable-aperture cameras, an under-display front-facing camera for Face ID, a smaller Dynamic Island, an updated A20 chip, and new, interesting colors, including a «coffee» brown. The latest rumors suggest that the front-facing camera will be relocated to the top left corner of the screen, and the Camera Control button will be simplified to a pressure-sensing function. The Dynamic Island could also be shrunken in favor of a hole-punch cutout. 

But if you’re trying to decide whether to buy an iPhone 17 now or get the iPhone 18, there is one biggest consideration: The iPhone 18 doesn’t exist. Apple hasn’t officially announced it. And rumors say the iPhone 18 won’t come out in September 2026 (to make room for the rumored iPhone Fold) and might be released in early 2027 instead.

Personally, I don’t think you should wait over a year for a new phone, especially if you’re considering an upgrade from an iPhone 14 or earlier model. Here are a few reasons why.

The iPhone 17 is great (and so is the 17 Pro)

If you’re looking to upgrade your phone, there’s a shiny new iPhone available in stores right now, and it’s a pretty good one. The iPhone 17 is a fantastic handset for iPhone devotees, especially for a base model.

Not only does the iPhone 17 offer a slightly larger 6.3-inch display (compared to the iPhone 16’s 6.1-inch screen), but it also features a variable refresh rate of 1 to 120Hz, a first among non-Pro iPhones. This lets you enable an always-on display so you can glance at the time or current sports scores without waking your phone. And, of course, the 120Hz ProMotion display also means increased smoothness and responsiveness overall, whether scrolling through social feeds or playing video games.

Sure, the iPhone 18 might get improved cameras, but the ones on the iPhone 17 aren’t too shabby. It has two 48-megapixel cameras on the back (a wide-angle and an ultrawide), with the ultrawide being a massive upgrade over the one on the iPhone 16 that only had a 12-megapixel sensor. The 18-megapixel selfie camera (which is on the rest of the iPhone 17 line and the Air) is also a great upgrade, especially with its Center Stage feature that zooms out when more people enter the frame or switches from portrait to landscape without you rotating the phone. 

On top of that, the iPhone 17 has a sturdy aluminum frame, comes in an array of lovely colors (lavender is my favorite) and has an impressive battery life. In my experience, it lasts more than a day with moderate use, and this seems to align with CNET’s Abrar Al-Heeti’s experience as well. 

If you want to further bridge the gap between this year’s iPhone and next year’s model, you could, of course, spend more on the iPhone 17 Pro. It has a beefier A19 Pro chip, a much better battery life (17 Pro Max) compared to the iPhone 17 and has that third camera on the back with a telephoto lens, which makes it a lot more versatile by offering a 4x magnification for zooming into distant subjects. I should note that battery life on the iPhone 17 and the regular iPhone 17 Pro are nearly identical.

The iPhone 18’s potential release date

Another significant reason not to wait to upgrade to the iPhone 18 is that it may not even be released next year. Waiting nine months until next fall is bad enough if you have an ailing phone, but there are currently rumors that Apple could be switching up its iPhone release strategy.

Bloomberg has reported that the company plans to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a new foldable in the fall of 2026. However, the iPhone 18, iPhone 18E and a potential Air 2 are set to debut closer to March 2027. That’s over a year away! You could certainly upgrade to one of the 2026 models, but chances are they won’t be as affordable as the spring 2027 releases. 

The older your phone, the more reason not to wait

If you have the iPhone 15 or newer, you could get by waiting for another year for the iPhone 18. But if your phone is much older than that and you would like a new iPhone, I see no reason to wait. This is especially the case if you’re experiencing performance and battery issues.

We usually recommend upgrading if your existing model is two generations old, especially if your phone starts having issues with your day-to-day tasks. One general consensus is that if your battery’s maximum capacity has dropped below 80%, and you don’t want to replace the battery, it’s probably wise to upgrade. You can check this by going to your phone’s Settings, selecting Battery and then Battery Health.

You can certainly keep your phone for longer, and Apple often provides software and security support for the iPhone for well over five years. However, you’ll also want to keep an eye out in case there are newer features that don’t work on your device, or if a newer iPhone’s camera hardware would provide enough of an upgrade to be a noticeable improvement.

But if you are thinking that you’d like to get a new base-level iPhone anytime in the next 12 months, there’s little reason to stick it out for the iPhone 18 when the iPhone 17 offers so many features.