The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e have performance and physical differences, but the 2027 parallel releases of the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e may be exactly the same speed.
In February 2025, Apple scrapped its low-cost iPhone SE line in favor of new models bearing the "e" designation, those being the iPhone 16e, and later, the iPhone 17e.
Relative to the standard iPhone 17, the iPhone 17e offers a smaller 6.1-inch display with a lower refresh rate, no Dynamic Island, no Camera Control, and only one rear camera. Still, both phones offer the A19 chip, though the iPhone 17e has one fewer GPU core.
That might change with the iPhone 18 range, however. According to Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital, Apple will "downgrade" the processing hardware of the iPhone 18, making it identical to the chip in the iPhone 18e. In essence, the two will have the same GPU core count, as there will be no chip binning this time around.
The move is a cost-cutting measure, claims the leaker. In practice, this means performance on the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e will be fairly similar. Features like ProMotion, Camera Control, Dynamic Island, and more will remain core selling points of the base model iPhone 18, though.
By using the same chip in the iPhone 18e and iPhone 18, Apple might be trying to widen the gap relative to the iPhone 18 Pro. In essence, the processing hardware of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will likely appear even more impressive compared to the lower-tier models.
This approach would make sense, given that the iPhone 18 Pro isn't rumored to offer much of anything beyond improved processing power. New colors and a slightly smaller Dynamic Island are the only visible changes users can expect with the high-end Pro models in 2026.
It's also been said that the standard iPhone 18 will arrive later than the iPhone 18 Pro, with a spring 2027 release alongside the iPhone 18e planned instead. This might explain the rumor of a shared chip configuration.
Fixed Focus Digital has a mixed track record, however. While they were correct about the iPhone 16e name, their claim about the iPhone 17e gaining a 120Hz refresh rate but not ProMotion turned out to be wrong.
In February 2024, they also strangely claimed that the iPhone Fold was scrapped, going against other leakers.
Though the source of Monday's iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e rumor hasn't always been right, the claim seems reasonable in its own right. This has earned the rumor of shared chip specs a "possible" rating.
