iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Fold & Rivals: Ireland Buyer’s Guide

Apple hasn't said a word about it officially, but the rumor mill is pretty confident there's a foldable in the works, likely landing alongside the iPhone 18 Pro. Until Apple actually confirms something, though, treat the timing as a guess.

Honestly, the estimates are all over the place—anywhere from $1,800 to $2,900 in the US, depending on who you ask. A few analysts seem to be settling around $1,999 as the likely starting point. For Ireland, once you factor in our usual pricing pattern and VAT, that could realistically put it somewhere in the €2,200–€2,600 range if it launches here—but that's a rough estimate on our part, not anything Apple has confirmed.

That's the rumor—a new hinge and screen design that dramatically cuts down the visible crease. "Completely crease-free" is probably the more ambitious version of that claim, so I'd wait for real reviewers to get their hands on one before taking that at face value.

Words on the street are Dark Cherry, Light Blue, Dark Gray, and Silver. Nothing official from Apple yet, so don't be surprised if the final lineup looks a bit different.

There's chatter that Apple's next modem could push satellite features beyond just emergency texts, but actual satellite web browsing without Wi-Fi or mobile data hasn't been confirmed by Apple. Take it as a "maybe" for now.

Going off how past generations have stacked up, Apple's likely to keep its edge on video, while Samsung tends to win on camera resolution and flexibility. On price, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is already sitting at around €1,449 in Ireland, which gives you a real number to compare against once iPhone 18 Pro pricing actually lands.

Pixel phones have always been strong on computational photography—that smart, behind-the-scenes image processing—while iPhones tend to shine with video and how well everything's optimized across apps. The Pixel 10 Pro currently starts at around €1,099 in Ireland, noticeably cheaper than where the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to land, so the budget is worth weighing alongside the camera differences.

If you need something now, grabbing a Galaxy or Pixel means you're not gambling on rumors—and you already know the price, roughly €1,449 for the S26 Ultra or €1,099 for the Pixel 10 Pro. But if you're set on Apple's next round of features, it's probably worth holding out for the official iPhone 18 Pro details and pricing.

Can't say for sure yet. Even if the screen size and overall shape stay similar, small tweaks to the camera bump, buttons, or frame can throw a case's fit off completely. Best to hang tight for Apple's official measurements before buying one.

Trade-in values tend to shift once a new iPhone gets announced, so it's worth checking what your phone's worth before the next launch—it gives you something solid to compare against once the new pricing lands. For reference, current iPhone 17 Pro pricing in Ireland starts around €1,339, so that's roughly the ballpark your trade-in credit would be chipping away at on an upgrade.

The big rumor is a variable-aperture main camera, which—if it's real—would give you a lot more control over light and depth of field. But Apple hasn't confirmed the camera specs yet, so how much of a real-world difference it makes is still up in the air.

Doesn't look like it, based on what's out there right now. The rumored plan has the Pro models—and maybe a foldable—arriving first, with the rest of the lineup following later. Still, Apple hasn't locked in or confirmed any of this, so it could all change—and that includes pricing for Ireland, which we'll only really know once Apple announces the lineup.