IT Digest: Rumored iPhone 18 Pro Launch, iPhone Duo Foldable, and DeepSeek IPO Plans
The ITHome morning roundup covers technology announcements and rumors, including Apple's rumored iPhone 18 Pro series featuring 2nm A20 Pro chips, the foldable iPhone Duo, and price increases across older iPhone models. It also highlights DeepSeek's preparation for a STAR Market IPO at a reported 500 billion yuan valuation and Honor's launch of a cross-brand Android touch-to-share standard. This roundup underscores key developments across consumer hardware and AI infrastructure, highlighting the industry transition toward 2nm semiconductor nodes and premium foldable devices. Furthermore, DeepSeek's potential domestic stock listing signals growing domestic capital investment in Chinese foundational AI models. Key specifications mention the A20 Pro chip utilizing a 2nm manufacturing process and a physical variable aperture camera system on the iPhone 18 Pro. Additionally, DeepSeek has reportedly hired CITIC Securities for its IPO while readying its V4.1 Flash model, designed to outperform V4 Pro across speed and benchmark metrics.
## BACKGROUND
Semiconductor manufacturing is transitioning to 2nm process nodes, replacing traditional FinFET architectures with Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor technology to achieve higher transistor density and lower power consumption. Physical variable aperture technology in mobile cameras uses mechanical aperture blades to adjust light intake and natural depth of field, a feature previously adopted by smartphone manufacturers like Huawei.