Report says to expect 2026's iPhone 18 Pro series to feature up to 2TB of storage
With the iPhone 16 series approximately six weeks away from getting unveiled, we've been hearing more about next year's iPhone 17 series including the new iPhone 17 Slim model which will have the highest starting price of any iPhone ever. According to a chart posted by leaker Ice Universe, the iPhone 17 Slim will cost $1,299 and up, higher than the $1,199 and up price tag expected for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. TF International's highly-regarded Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the phone's design will have to sell consumers on the device since the rumored specs are nothing special.
Let's move ahead to 2026 and that year's iPhone 18 line. According to a fresh report, new technology that Apple will supposedly use in the iPhone 18 line will allow the company to sell iPhone 18 Pro series models with up to 2TB of storage. This technology is called quad-level-cell (QLC) Universal Flash Storage. Currently, iPhones use a storage chip known as triple-level-cell (TLC) and the QLC tech, with four bits per cell, is 33% denser which allows the chip to store larger amounts without requiring the component itself to be a larger size.
Chinese phone manufacturers are also expected to start using QLC memory as soon as this year's fourth quarter. Earlier this year DigiTimes said that Apple was considering using QLC to produce iPhone 16 Pro series models with 2TB of storage. Today's report says that Apple won't make the switch from TLC Flash Storage to QLC Flash Storage until 2026. That is the year we could see a 2TB iPhone 18 Pro and 2TB iPhone 18 Pro Max thanks to the change in flash memory.
QLC will make up only 20% of flash NAND Flash bit shipments this year and that percentage will rise in 2025. The technology will continue to take share from TLC in the smartphone market. There are some concerns with QLC, chief among them slower read/write speeds compared with TLC. But QLC Flash Storage is less expensive which might help phone manufacturers decide to make the switch.
Meanwhile, if 2TB storage on an iPhone sounds good to you, start saving up. The 1TB iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are priced at $1,499 and $1,599 respectively. Pricing for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max is going to be much higher.
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