Apple Loop: iPhone 18 Pro Upgrades, Fortnite Returns To The App Store, iPhone Fold Delays

Tim Cook and Eddy Cue attend the Apple Original Films & Warner Bros. Pictures "F1" World Premiere in Times Square (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Getty Images

Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from across the Apple world, including iPhone 18 Pro upgrades, how to beat the iPhone Fold, new accessibility software, encrypted RCS arrives in iOS, OLED MacBook Pro dates, Fortnite and the Apple Store, and why Eddy Cue is going to Cannes.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.

iPhone 18 Pro Will Pick Up A New Modem In September Apple is expected to drop Qualcomm’s modems from the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max and move to its own modem technology with the introduction of the C2 modem. This will be tied tightly to the hardware and software of the iPhone, as it will not need to offer a wide compatibility layer, since it will only be used by Apple. Forbes contributor David Phelan looks at the wider landscape: "The company has used Qualcomm modems in the iPhone since 2011 with one version of the iPhone 4, and more widely since. But there are three iPhones which have modems that Qualcomm didn’t make. Two are Apple’s budget “e” series — the iPhone 16e from spring 2025 with the C1 modem, and the iPhone 17e and iPhone Air, which have the upgraded C1X modem."

How The iPhone 18 Pro Can Trump The iPhone Fold Filipe Esposito wonders just how successful the iPhone 18 Pro will be, and he cites the iPhone 8 in his reasoning. Yes, the iPhone Fold will be announced, but it’s likely to be in short supply. And if that’s the case, those needing a new phone are going to turn to the iPhone 18 Pro MORE FOR YOU "However, since manufacturing for the new iPhone was a challenge in 2017, Apple needed more time to deliver enough of them to stock shelves. That’s why the iPhone 8 hit stores in September while the iPhone X didn’t arrive until November. It still sold out almost immediately, as the iPhone Fold will almost certainly do, but it was the iPhone 8 that carried sales until the iPhone XR arrived in 2018."

Apple Announces New Accessibility Software Updates Apple has confirmed that WWDC 2026 will start on June 8th. Ahead of the WWDC events, new accessibility features will be bundled into Apple Intelligence, as well as features stretching across the entire ecosystem. The updates, announced on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, will arrive later this year. From Apple’s press release: "With Apple Intelligence, detailed descriptions and natural language navigation are coming to features such as VoiceOver, Magnifier, Voice Control, and Accessibility Reader Apple also announced new features for controlling power wheelchairs with Apple Vision Pro and generating subtitles across the Apple ecosystem, all coming later this year."

Apple Introduces Encrypted Messaging To Android The update to iOS 26.5 brings some notable software updates, but the one that may have the most day-to-day impact is to Messaging. End-to-end encryption is now enabled by default, allowing private conversations between Apple and Android devices over RCS, provided your network supports the protocols. David Phelan has more: "End-to-end encrypted messaging applies to messages coming from, or going to, Android phones in the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol. When RCS messages are end-to-end encrypted, they can’t be read while they’re sent between devices. "This is new and comes about because iOS 26.5 includes RCS 3.0 for the first time. “Apple and Google have led a cross-industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to Rich Communication Services (RCS), making the cross-platform messaging format that replaces traditional SMS more secure and private,” Apple said in a Newsroom post."

When Will Apple Release The OLED MacBook Pro? Apple is on course to launch the first OLED-equipped MacBook Pro models later this year. South Korean publication The Elec, which keeps a careful eye on the supply chain, reports that Samsung Display’s yield rates for the OLED hardware have passed the crucial 90 percent mark. This should set the display start shipping in mid-June, on course for a late 2026/early 2027 release: "Samsung Display will begin mass production and shipment of 8.6th generation OLED panels as early as next month. The panels produced are expected to be used in Apple's 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. The supply volume for this year is estimated at approximately 2 million units. An industry official stated, "The input of glass has just begun," adding, "It typically takes at least a month from the input of the substrate through the module process to mass production shipment to the customer, so shipments are expected to take place in June.”"

Is Fortnite Back In The Apple App Store? The back and forth between Epic Games and Apple took another step this week, as Fortnite returned to the iOS App Store around the world, Australia being a notable exception, as it waits for a court ruling in an ongoing case. Sophie McEvoy reports for GamesIndustry.biz: "Epic Games stated it relaunched Fortnite after Apple informed the US Supreme Court that "regulators around the world are watching this case to determine what commission rate Apple may charge on covered purchases in huge markets outside the United States.” Epic stated that once Apple discloses its costs, governments worldwide will not permit what it calls "Apple junk fees" to continue."