The iPhone 18e is shaping up as a chip upgrade wrapped around the same screen. Leaker Digital Chat Station says Apple’s entry-level iPhone will keep a 60Hz display, move to the A20 chip and may get a sharper front camera.
The specs came in a Weibo post on Tuesday. The iPhone 18e is listed with a 6.12-inch 60Hz LTPS OLED display, a 2nm A20 chip and a single 48-megapixel rear camera. The front camera is the one soft spot, since the leaker only says it may be upgraded to 24 megapixels.
The display and rear camera stay close to the iPhone 17e
The iPhone 17e already ships with a 6.1-inch OLED display and a 48-megapixel Fusion rear camera, so the leaked sheet describes almost the same hardware. LTPS is the cheaper panel type. The iPhones that run at 120Hz use LTPO panels, which can vary their refresh rate.
The 60Hz detail matches an earlier leak that the iPhone 18e would not get a ProMotion display. The rear camera detail is thin, so a different sensor or lens could still show up even with the 48-megapixel count unchanged.
The A20 chip is the biggest jump over the iPhone 17e
The iPhone 17e runs the A19 chip with a 4-core GPU. The A20 moves to 2nm, the same process behind the A20 Pro and its dual Neural Engine. That should bring faster performance and better battery efficiency to the cheapest iPhone in the lineup.
It also puts the iPhone 18e on the same chip as the standard iPhone 18. The earlier leak suggested Apple may trim GPU cores on the cheaper model and adjust chip branding, so the A20 name alone will not say how close the two phones are.
Price, storage, the modem and the design are all still open. Anything beyond the screen, chip and cameras will have to come from later leaks.
A new front camera would end the 12-megapixel run on the e line
The iPhone 17e uses a 12-megapixel TrueDepth front camera, and the standard iPhone 17 moved to an 18-megapixel Center Stage camera. A 24-megapixel selfie camera would be a clear step up for the iPhone 18e. Even 18 megapixels would give it the same front camera as last year’s base model.
The front camera is the least certain line in the leak, and Apple has not announced the iPhone 18e. The phone is expected in spring 2027, alongside the standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2.
