Apple is going to skip a number once again, and the latest report says the company’s iPhone 19 lineup will be called iPhone 20 instead.
iPhone 19 Lineup to be Called iPhone 20, and Apple will Change the Sequence in Which it Launches its iPhones
Apple’s no stranger to skipping numbers. The company went straight to iPhone X and skipped iPhone 9. And only recently skipped a ton of numbers and went straight to version 26 for its software lineup.
According to Omdia Chief Researcher Heo Moo-yeol, Apple is going to skip iPhone 19 and will announce the iPhone 20. Given that the iPhone 19 will be the ’20th anniversary’ lineup, it does make sense that it should be called iPhone 20 to mark the occasion.
The skipping of a number isn’t the big thing here. He also mentioned that Apple is going to launch the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e models in the first half of 2027, which means Apple is going to announce the higher-end models like the iPhone 18 Pro in second half of 2026.
In the second half of 2027, Apple is going to launch a new iPhone Air, iPhone 20 Pro, and iPhone 20 Pro Max, and a new second-generation folding iPhone. This only implies that the company is going to launch the first-generation folding iPhone in 2026.
The interesting thing is, this new way of launching iPhones is something that has been talked about before. Ming-Chi Kuo touched on this in great detail, and I recommend you check it out here.
Given how crowded and diverse the iPhone lineup has become lately, splitting launches into two parts makes a ton of sense. It is also believed that this year’s standard iPhone 17 model is packed with all the best features for a reason – because the base iPhone 18 model is quite far away and Apple needed to ship something of far greater value that lasts an extended period of time.
The thing that has me excited is the fact that there is going to be a new iPhone Air. Given how the internet has labeled it a flop already, with some outlets suggesting no demand for it at all, Apple is planning to take it forward with newer models down the line.
When it comes to the folding iPhone, I’m not interested in it at all. So far, companies like Samsung haven’t actually given a good use-case for these devices. And when you factor in the price at which these devices sell, you just want to stay away from them anyway.
