iPhone 18e Leak: A20, 60Hz Screen and a $699 Price Call - Memeburn
TL;DR
- Digital Chat Station says the iPhone 18e gets an A20 (2nm), a 6.12-inch 60Hz LTPS OLED, a single 48MP rear camera and a 24MP selfie camera.
- Ming-Chi Kuo had earlier pointed to the A20 and 9GB of memory; the 60Hz claim comes only from DCS.
- The iPhone 17e now starts at $699 after a $100 increase on September 9, 2026; the iPhone 17 is $899.
- A 24MP front camera would exceed the iPhone 18 Pro's 18MP Center Stage camera on paper, though the leak does not say whether 24MP is sensor or output.
- Memeburn's view: the iPhone 18e will launch at $699, not $599.
The iPhone 18e will keep a 60Hz display and a single 48MP rear camera while moving to Apple’s 2nm A20 chip and a 24MP selfie camera, according to a Weibo post from the leaker Digital Chat Station (DCS) on October 27. Apple has not confirmed any of it, and the phone is expected in spring 2027 alongside the standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2, roughly a year after the iPhone 17e arrived in March 2026.
For anyone deciding between buying the iPhone 17e now and waiting, the leak matters less for what it adds than for what it leaves alone, because the screen most buyers want upgraded stays at 60Hz. The price has also moved in the wrong direction since the 17e launched, since Apple raised it from $599 to $699 on September 9, and nothing in the leak gives Apple a reason to bring its successor back down to $599.
What the iPhone 18e Leak Says, and How Solid Each Part Is
iPhone 17e
Overview
- A19 chip brings powerful performance with hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
- 48MP Fusion camera supports optical-quality 2x telephoto shots and 4K Dolby Vision.
- 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display, MagSafe, and IP68 durability.
Every iPhone 18e spec in the leak is a rumor until Apple announces the phone, so Memeburn has separated what is known about the iPhone 17e, mostly from Apple’s iPhone 17e specifications, from what is claimed for its successor.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had already pointed to the A20 and 9GB of memory for the iPhone 18e, according to GSMArena, so the chip claim has two independent sources behind it. The 60Hz claim does not, because it comes from DCS twice: an earlier DCS leak also put the iPhone 18e at 60Hz while giving the standard iPhone 18 a 6.3-inch 120Hz LTPO panel.
A 60Hz Screen Is Now a $200 Gap in Apple’s Lineup
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Overview
- 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion
- A19 Pro chip delivers powerful flagship performance
- Triple 48MP cameras offer versatile professional photography
The iPhone 17e’s 60Hz display is the clearest thing separating it from the iPhone 17, and after September’s increases that difference costs $200, since the 17e starts at $699 and the iPhone 17 at $899, according to MacRumors. If the leak is right, the iPhone 18e repeats that split against the iPhone 18, which would make it the third e-series iPhone in a row at 60Hz while the iPhone 17, the iPhone Air and every Pro model run at 120Hz.
That gap matters more at $699 than it did at $599, because the iPhone 17e launched at the same $599 as the iPhone 16e before it, according to Tom’s Guide, and buyers are now paying $100 more for an unchanged screen.
The 24MP Selfie Camera Would Out-Resolve the iPhone 18 Pro on Paper
iPhone 17e
Overview
- A19 chip brings powerful performance with hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
- 48MP Fusion camera supports optical-quality 2x telephoto shots and 4K Dolby Vision.
- 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display, MagSafe, and IP68 durability.
The more surprising line in the iPhone 18e leak is the front camera, because a 24MP sensor would double the iPhone 17e’s 12MP and exceed the 18MP Center Stage camera on the $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro, according to Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro specifications. The leak does not say whether 24MP describes the sensor or the photos it produces, which matters because Apple’s Center Stage camera crops a square sensor and peaks at 18MP of output, according to Digital Camera World. Until that is clear, the 24MP figure says more about resolution on a spec sheet than about better selfies.
Expect the iPhone 18e to Start at $699, Not $599
Memeburn’s call is that the iPhone 18e will launch at $699 in the US, the price the iPhone 17e carries today, rather than returning to the $599 at which the 16e and 17e launched. Apple added $100 to every older iPhone it still sells on September 9, the same day the iPhone 18 Pro models launched at starting prices $100 above the 17 Pro models, according to Macworld, and it did so after telling customers in June that it had never seen component prices rise “this much, this quickly,” according to the Associated Press. Kuo’s 9GB figure would also put more memory into the phone during a RAM shortage that SK Hynix expects to be worst in 2027, and the 17e launched at exactly the 16e’s price, a pattern that now points to $699. The call is wrong if memory contract prices fall before spring or if Apple decides the 18e has to undercut Android rivals at $599, although neither has evidence behind it today.
Should You Buy the iPhone 17e Now or Wait for the iPhone 18e?
A buyer who needs a phone before spring gives up less by buying the iPhone 17e now than the leak’s headline suggests, because if the 18e does launch at $699, waiting five months buys an A20, a higher-resolution selfie camera and possibly 1GB more memory, while the 60Hz screen and single rear camera stay the same. The 17e already has MagSafe charging at up to 15W and rates up to 26 hours of video playback, according to Apple, so the everyday gap between the two phones would be smaller than a chip generation implies. A buyer who wants 120Hz should skip the e-series entirely and choose between the iPhone 17 at $899 and the iPhone 18, which is expected in spring 2027, while those comparing upward will find the iPhone 18 Pro Max versus iPhone Duo gap is a separate $700 question. Google’s Pixel 11 price increase shows the same memory pressure on Android, so waiting for a cheaper rival is no safer a bet.
Should You Buy the iPhone 17e Now or Wait for the iPhone 18e?
A buyer who needs a phone before spring gives up less by buying the iPhone 17e now than the leak’s headline suggests, because if the 18e does launch at $699, waiting five months buys an A20, a higher-resolution selfie camera and possibly 1GB more memory, while the 60Hz screen and single rear camera stay the same. The 17e already has MagSafe charging at up to 15W and rates up to 26 hours of video playback, according to Apple, so the everyday gap between the two phones would be smaller than a chip generation implies. A buyer who wants 120Hz should skip the e-series entirely and choose between the iPhone 17 at $899 and the iPhone 18, which is expected in spring 2027, while those comparing upward will find the iPhone 18 Pro Max versus iPhone Duo gap is a separate $700 question. Google’s Pixel 11 price increase shows the same memory pressure on Android, so waiting for a cheaper rival is no safer a bet.
FAQs
When will the iPhone 18e be released?
Apple has not announced the iPhone 18e. Several reports point to a spring 2027 launch alongside the standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2, about a year after the iPhone 17e launched in March 2026.
Will the iPhone 18e have a 120Hz display?
The latest leak from Digital Chat Station says the iPhone 18e will keep a 6.12-inch 60Hz OLED display, but Apple has not confirmed the phone’s specifications.
How much will the iPhone 18e cost?
Apple has not announced a price. The iPhone 17e currently starts at $699 in the US for 256GB after a $100 increase on September 9, 2026.
Will the iPhone 18e have Dynamic Island?
The latest leak does not mention Dynamic Island. The current iPhone 17e uses a notch rather than Dynamic Island.