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Apple confirmed on October 2, 2026 that some iPhone 18 Pro Max phones on AT&T lose cellular service, and that a phone already stuck on SOS has to be replaced. iOS 27.0.1 and a carrier settings update are meant to help prevent the problem on phones that still work. Here is what to do in each case, and what Apple has not said.
Apple lists seven iPhones in October 2026, from the $699 iPhone 17e to the $1,999 iPhone Duo, and no standard iPhone 18. For most people the answer is still the iPhone 17, $929 or $899 with carrier activation. The lab results for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are in, and one of them carries a warning for AT&T customers.
Apple announced the iPhone Duo on September 9: a foldable with a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch inner one, the A20 Pro chip and a $1,999 starting price. Pre-orders open October 16 and phones arrive October 23, five weeks after the iPhone 18 Pro.
Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,199 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,299 on September 9, a $100 increase on both models. Then its store came back with the year-old iPhone 17, 17e and Air each $100 higher too. Pre-orders open Saturday, phones arrive September 18.
Smartphone shipments just hit their lowest second quarter since 2013 while the average phone price jumps 21% to an all-time high. The damage lands hardest at the bottom: the cheap phone is being hollowed out to feed the AI memory boom, and the industry is getting richer as it happens.
Phones ranked by published lab measurements, with every price re-read on October 12, 2026. The iPhone 18 Pro Max now leads, with a warning for AT&T customers. The Pixel 10a's price and the Galaxy S26 Ultra's list price each rose $100 since mid-September, and the battery record holder has sold out at its maker's U.S. store.
While Wall Street cheers Nvidia's record supply chain numbers, a catastrophic DRAM and NAND shortage is quietly pushing consumer tech companies toward bankruptcy - ushering in a new era of forced regression for your next laptop and smartphone.