A new rumor says some iPhone 18 Pro models could use SK Hynix QLC NAND on the 1TB and 2TB tiers, echoing a similar January 2024 claim about iPhone 16 Pro. If true, Apple would likely keep faster TLC storage for the capacities most buyers choose, while higher-e
The rumor has the familiar shape of an older story: a high-capacity iPhone Pro model, a different kind of flash memory inside, and the uneasy question of whether speed will quietly fall off—without most people ever noticing.
This time, the chatter is about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. A new report claims Apple will mix storage types across configurations, using faster TLC NAND on the models people are most likely to buy—while the biggest tiers, at 1TB and 2TB, may be left with a slower QLC alternative.
The latest claim traces back to a post by the leaker “Reptalica,” shared via an X post. The rumor says Apple will use TLC NAND from SK Hynix. Kioxia. and SanDisk for the 256GB and 512GB iPhone Pro and Pro Max models. For the 1TB model. it’s said Apple will use a mixture of SK Hynix QLC storage and Samsung TLC chips. And for the 2TB model, the rumor argues Apple will use SK Hynix’s QLC storage alone.
The supply-chain pressure behind the idea is also part of the pitch. The rumor suggests Apple continues to struggle sourcing the storage components needed for new products. With that in mind. it frames the move as potentially pragmatic: sourcing 1TB and 2TB TLC components may be difficult. if not impossible. and would also be “spendy” given the current economic environment surrounding flash media.
But this is where the story starts to feel less like a breakthrough and more like déjà vu. Very similar claims circulated in January 2024, ahead of the iPhone 16 Pro’s unveiling in September of that year. Then, the assertion was that Apple would use QLC storage for iPhones with 1TB of storage or more.
Getting clear proof either way has been hard. Even so, the only concrete reports seen about iPhone 16 Pro high-capacity models point toward fast TLC storage. That doesn’t prove QLC chips never appeared—reports also note that there could be QLC NAND “floating around.” Still. as of now. there hasn’t been a clear sighting.
The performance worry itself depends on what QLC is, and why it’s considered slower. Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND and Quad-Level Cell (QLC) NAND are both types of flash memory. but they aren’t the same. QLC can store four bits per cell, instead of the three bits per cell in TLC. That extra density is why QLC is often used for larger-capacity storage, and why it can be cheaper to produce.
The trade-off is reliability and speed. QLC is thought to be less reliable than TLC. and it’s also considered slower because it rewrites all four bits instead of three. The rumor also points to QLC being particularly slow when reading random data. What’s less certain is whether that shows up in real iPhone usage.
Smartphone behavior on flash storage is typically bursts rather than sustained transfers. In that kind of workload, the difference in performance would likely be imperceptible to people who don’t benchmark devices.
And there’s another reason to keep the expectations in check: this narrative about QLC on higher-capacity iPhones has already made the rounds before. and it “did the rounds two years ago” and. as far as what’s been seen. turned out incorrect. Only time will tell if this latest report about iPhone 18 Pro storage ends up being different—whether Apple actually follows the mix of SK Hynix QLC. Samsung TLC. and other TLC suppliers. or whether it’s another round of speculation that misses the mark.
iPhone 18 Pro iPhone 18 Pro Max QLC NAND TLC NAND SK Hynix Kioxia SanDisk Samsung TLC storage rumor