Will The iPhone 18 Be Bigger? What The Rumors Say…

iPhone 18 Screen Sizes

Apple is expected to use the following display sizes across the iPhone 18 range:

The important point is that Apple isn’t expected to increase the diagonal screen size of its normal slab-shaped iPhones.

The standard, Pro, Pro Max, Air and e models should all remain within their existing size classes.

The real size changes are expected to involve thickness, weight, screen cutouts and the introduction of the folding model.

Will The Standard iPhone 18 Be Bigger?

The standard iPhone 18 is expected to retain the 6.3-inch display introduced on the iPhone 17.

The iPhone 17 currently measures:

• 149.6mm tall
• 71.5mm wide
• 7.95mm thick
• 177g
• 6.3-inch display

No trustworthy report has provided finished dimensions for the iPhone 18.

Current information suggests Apple will make only minor external changes. The basic aluminium and glass design should remain, along with the same general height and width.

One leaker has described slight adjustments to the body, but there is no evidence of another screen-size increase.

The iPhone 18 should therefore feel much like the iPhone 17 in your hand and pocket.

Why Isn’t Apple Increasing The Screen Again?

Apple only recently moved the standard iPhone from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches.

The current size gives Apple enough room for a larger display without turning the standard model into another Pro Max. It also preserves a meaningful choice between the 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch phones.

Making it larger again would risk leaving buyers without a reasonably sized mainstream iPhone.

The standard model is already expected to inherit several features from the iPhone 17, including:

• 6.3-inch OLED display
• ProMotion with refresh rates up to 120Hz
• Always-on display
• Thin bezels
• Dynamic Island
• Aluminium frame

The iPhone 18 may receive a smaller Dynamic Island, but the screen itself should remain the same size.

Will The iPhone 18 Pro Be Bigger?

The iPhone 18 Pro is also expected to retain a 6.3-inch display.

Apple’s current iPhone 17 Pro measures:

• 150mm tall
• 71.9mm wide
• 8.75mm thick
• 206g
• 6.3-inch display

No reliable dimensions have leaked for its replacement.

The smaller Pro could become fractionally thicker to accommodate its camera hardware or updated cooling system. However, the alleged battery figures suggest Apple doesn’t need to make it much larger.

Reported capacities for the iPhone 18 Pro are:

• 4,288mAh for the US eSIM-only version
• 4,056mAh for the physical-SIM version

These represent very small increases over the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro batteries.

Without a big battery increase, there is less reason for Apple to add much thickness or weight.

The iPhone 18 Pro should remain the best option for buyers who want Apple’s top camera and processor without carrying around the enormous Pro Max.

Will The iPhone 18 Pro Max Be Bigger?

Yes, although probably not in height, width or screen size.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to retain its 6.9-inch display while becoming thicker and heavier.

Chinese leaker Ice Universe claims the phone will measure approximately:

• 9mm thick
• 240g
• 6.9-inch display

For comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is:

• 8.75mm thick
• 233g
• 6.9-inch display

That would make the iPhone 18 Pro Max around 0.25mm thicker and 7g heavier than its predecessor.

Neither change sounds dramatic on paper.

The problem is that the Pro Max is already a large, heavy phone. Adding another 7g would take it back to roughly the weight of the stainless-steel iPhone 14 Pro Max.

You’ll probably notice that more than the extra quarter of a millimetre.

Why Is The iPhone 18 Pro Max Getting Thicker?

The most obvious reason is its battery.

Alleged regulatory listings point to the following capacities:

• 5,567mAh for the US eSIM-only model
• 5,391mAh for the physical-SIM model

The US iPhone 17 Pro Max reportedly contains a 5,088mAh battery. Its replacement would therefore gain 479mAh, an increase of around 9.4%.

The physical-SIM version could gain even more.

Apple also needs internal space for:

• Variable-aperture main camera
• Revised telephoto camera
• Larger camera plateau
• Stainless-steel vapour chamber
• A20 Pro processor packaging
• C2 modem
• Cooling hardware

Making the phone slightly thicker gives Apple more room to fit this hardware without reducing battery capacity.

And honestly? I think this is the right trade.

The Pro Max is already too large for anyone who wants a genuinely compact phone. Making it fractionally thicker in return for much longer battery life is more useful than chasing another meaningless thinness record.

Will The Screen Be Larger?

No. The iPhone 18 Pro Max should retain the same marketed 6.9-inch screen size as the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The panel’s precise rectangular measurement is expected to be approximately 6.86 inches, which Apple rounds to 6.9 inches in its product material.

Apple could make small changes to the bezels or frame without changing the advertised screen size.

The display may receive:

• LTPO+ OLED technology
• Better power efficiency
• Smaller Dynamic Island
• Under-display Face ID components
• Improved outdoor brightness
• Updated display-driver circuitry

These changes could make the screen look cleaner or use less power. They won’t necessarily make it physically larger.

Will The Foldable iPhone Be The Biggest iPhone?

When unfolded, yes.

Apple’s first foldable iPhone is expected to use two displays:

• Approximately 5.5-inch outer display
• Approximately 7.8-inch folding inner display

Some reports provide slightly different measurements, usually between 5.3 and 5.5 inches for the outer screen and 7.6 to 7.8 inches for the inner display.

The 7.8-inch figure has appeared most frequently in recent reporting.

That would make the internal screen considerably larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s 6.9-inch display.

It would also use a squarer shape, reportedly close to a 4:3 aspect ratio. This should make it better suited to:

• Reading websites
• Viewing documents
• Editing photos
• Running two applications together
• Watching video
• Using iPad-style interfaces
• Reading books and magazines

The foldable won’t simply feel like a wider Pro Max. Opened up, it should feel closer to a very small iPad.

How Big Will The Foldable Be When Closed?

The outer display is expected to measure approximately 5.5 inches.

That sounds small compared with the 6.3-inch iPhone 18 Pro, but diagonal measurements don’t tell the whole story.

The outer screen is expected to be wider and squarer than a normal iPhone display. The folded device could therefore resemble a compact passport or notebook rather than a narrow smartphone.

Reported thickness is:

• Approximately 4.5mm when unfolded
• Approximately 9mm to 9.5mm when folded

That would make it astonishingly thin when open but fairly normal for a book-style foldable when closed.

The hinge, two displays and dual battery cells will also add weight. No dependable finished weight has been reported.

Will The iPhone 18e Be Bigger?

The iPhone 18e is expected to retain a 6.1-inch display.

That would make it the smallest conventional phone in the iPhone 18 family.

Apple appears to be keeping the lower-cost e model on the older 6.1-inch format while the standard iPhone and Pro use larger 6.3-inch panels.

The likely lineup would therefore look like this:

• iPhone 18e: 6.1 inches
• iPhone 18: 6.3 inches
• iPhone 18 Pro: 6.3 inches
• iPhone Air 2: approximately 6.5 inches
• iPhone 18 Pro Max: 6.9 inches

No physical dimensions have leaked for the iPhone 18e.

If Apple retains the basic shape of the current e model, it should remain the easiest iPhone 18 to use with one hand.

Will The iPhone Air 2 Be Bigger?

The iPhone Air 2 is expected to retain a display of approximately 6.5 inches.

Apple describes the current iPhone Air as having a 6.5-inch screen, although its full rectangular measurement is 6.55 inches.

Its current dimensions are:

• 156.2mm tall
• 74.7mm wide
• 5.64mm thick
• 165g
• 6.5-inch display

The second-generation model is reportedly undergoing only modest external changes.

Apple previously considered a larger 6.9-inch Air but reportedly rejected the design because such a thin and wide chassis could be easier to bend.

The Air 2 could become slightly thicker if Apple adds:

• Larger battery
• Vapour-chamber cooling
• Second rear camera
• Revised internal frame

There is no dependable figure for its final thickness.

Apple could also remove some of those upgrades to preserve the Air’s main selling point, which is its absurdly thin body.

Which iPhone 18 Will Be The Smallest?

The iPhone 18e should be the smallest model overall.

The expected order by screen size is:

The foldable’s outer display would technically be the smallest at around 5.5 inches, but the phone opens into the largest device in the range.

Which iPhone 18 Will Be The Heaviest?

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is currently expected to weigh approximately 240g.

That could make it the heaviest conventional iPhone Apple has released in several years.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max also weighed 240g, so the iPhone 18 Pro Max wouldn’t necessarily break Apple’s all-time record. But it would reverse the weight reductions introduced when Apple moved away from stainless steel.

The foldable could weigh even more, although no trustworthy figure is available.

Foldables require:

• Two displays
• A hinge
• Two battery cells
• Additional frame reinforcement
• More display-driver hardware
• Flexible internal connections

Apple may use titanium, aluminium and carbon-fibre components to reduce the weight, but it still has far more hardware to carry than a normal iPhone.

Does A Thicker iPhone Mean A Bigger Camera Bump?

Possibly.

The iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to receive a variable-aperture main camera. The system requires a mechanical actuator capable of physically changing the lens opening.

The telephoto camera may also receive a wider aperture, while an alleged diagnostic file points to a new Sony IMX905 main sensor on the Pro Max.

These components could increase the depth of the camera plateau even if the main chassis becomes thicker.

Making the entire phone 0.25mm thicker may allow Apple to absorb some of the camera depth into the body. That could stop the camera bump from growing by the same amount as the internal module.

No reliable camera-plateau measurements have leaked.

Is Apple Abandoning Thin iPhones?

Not entirely. It appears to be separating its phones by purpose.

The iPhone Air exists for people who care about weight and thinness. The Pro Max exists for people who want the largest battery, longest runtime and full camera system.

Trying to make the Pro Max ultra-thin would force Apple to compromise on at least one of those areas.

The iPhone 18 family could therefore cover both extremes:

• iPhone Air 2: approximately 5.6mm thick
• Foldable iPhone: approximately 4.5mm open
• iPhone 18 Pro Max: approximately 9mm thick

That is a remarkably wide range of designs carrying the iPhone name.

Should You Wait For The iPhone 18?

Wait if you specifically want:

• The longest possible iPhone battery life
• Apple’s first foldable
• Variable-aperture camera hardware
• A smaller Dynamic Island
• A 2nm A20 processor
• The largest internal display on an iPhone

Don’t wait because you expect every iPhone 18 to have a bigger screen. That isn’t what the current reports show.

The standard iPhone 18 and both Pro models should retain the same screen sizes as their predecessors. The main physical change appears to be a thicker and heavier Pro Max.

And if you simply want a larger iPhone without paying launch-day iPhone 18 prices, refurbished models offer incredible value for money. You can compare refurbished Apple iPhones, browse our phone collections or use the Phone Finder to narrow the options by screen size, budget and features.

A refurbished iPhone 15 Pro Max, 16 Pro Max or 17 Pro Max will still give you a huge display without the expected iPhone 18 Pro Max price.

So, Will The iPhone 18 Be Bigger?

Most models won’t be.

The iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro should retain 6.3-inch screens. The Pro Max should stay at 6.9 inches, while the Air 2 and iPhone 18e should remain at approximately 6.5 and 6.1 inches respectively.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is the exception.

It could become approximately 0.25mm thicker and 7g heavier, largely because Apple is reportedly installing a battery of up to 5,567mAh.

Then there’s the foldable. Its 7.8-inch internal display will make it the biggest iPhone screen yet, but only when you open it.

So the short answer is no, the normal iPhone 18 models aren’t getting larger displays. But the Pro Max may become chunkier, and Apple’s foldable will take the iPhone into an entirely new size category.