While the foldable iPhone Duo may be taking a lot of the spotlight, iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max deliver plenty of welcome upgrades
The general design of both phones is mostly the same as their predecessors. But those things that have been upgraded? They're pretty exciting.
Apple's added variable aperture to the camera, a more powerful A20 Pro chipset to offer a massive leap in performance and major improvements to heat dissipation. Plus, there are big changes coming to the battery, and it could offer the best iPhone battery life we've ever seen.
Here's everything you need to know about iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.,
Specs
| Header Cell - Column 0 | iPhone 18 Pro |
iPhone 18 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
Price |
From $1,199 / AU$2,099 |
From $1,299 / AU$2,299 |
Display |
6.3-inch OLED |
6.9-inch OLED |
Processor |
A20 Pro |
A20 Pro |
RAM |
12GB |
12GB |
Front Cameras |
18MP |
18MP |
Rear Cameras |
48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP Telephoto w/4x optical zoom |
48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP Telephoto w/4x optical zoom |
Colors |
Burgundy, Glacier, Silver, Black |
Burgundy, Glacier, Silver, Black |
iOS 27 and Siri AI
Apple hit the ground running by talking about AI, but almost everything we heard was just a repeat of the announcements made at WWDC 2026 back in June. However, the company promises that the iPhone 18 Pro has been built for Siri AI. This means that the phone will feature all the newest and best features Siri AI has to offer.
This includes Expressive Voices and the improved dictation that is only available on a limited number of iPhones, meaning there's at least 12GB of RAM to power the on-device AI in this phone.
Other features of note come via iOS 27, including Siri Mode in the camera, Spatial reframing, Extend and Clean Up in the Photos app. The phones will come running iOS 27 right out of the box, but it looks like the official non-beta update will roll out to other users from September 14.
A20 Pro
As expected the iPhone 18 Pro runs with an A20 Pro chipset, which is built for AI and offering a huge leap in performance. And it goes beyond the 2nm design that offers better transistor density.
The 6-core CPU has a pair of super cores that are 20% faster than before, alongside four efficiency cores. This helps enable low latency on-device AI performance, and Apple claims it will have the fastest CPUs on any smartphone. The seven core CPU will also offer 40% improved graphics performance, while the neural processor offers 2x faster performance than before.
On the subject of AI, Apple has added a second neural engine to the A20 Pro, offering 32 cores in total and double the processing power.
The A20 Pro also features Apple's N1 chip, which powers Wi-Fi 7, thread and Bluetooth 6, while the brand new C2 modem promises to improve cellular quality with a 15% reduction in energy consumption compared to the older C1X.
Heat dissipation is a big subject with the A20 Pro, and this year's chip is connected directly to the vapor chamber for better heat performance. The vapor chamber also has three times the surface area of iPhone 17 Pro's, and promises 40% more sustained performance in the process.
Cameras
The biggest change to the iPhone 18 Pro is the addition of variable aperture on the main camera lens. Resolution is still 48MP, but this year Apple has added a series of six blades over the lens that lets you control how much light actually enters the camera.
Those of you that aren't expert photographers will be happy to hear that those blades can also work automatically, ensuring enough light hits the sensor for the conditions you're in. Why does this matter? This helps improve camera performance in low-light by allowing the camera to capture more light. It also helps to improve depth of field, which is necessary for improving the background details in group photos and Portrait mode.
Aperture can also be adjusted manually thanks to Apple's new Pro camera controls. This means you can make adjustments to one of four aperture settings in the camera app. Those Pro controls also let you adjust other settings like white balance and shutter speed, as well as the ability to monitor light levels with an on-screen histogram.
Timelapse mode supports up to 4K resolution and Dolby Vision HDR, while Audio Mix offers new algorithms to offer higher quality voices and music isolation. Apple is making it possible to convert a video into Cinematic Mode (at up to 60fps) after the video has already been recorded. Photographic styles now offer new texture and grain controls, for even more creative control over your snaps.
There's also an on-device Smart Tracking feature, powered by AI, and is similar to what we've seen on Galaxy Z Fold 8. This feature can track individual people in a video — even if they walk out of frame.
iPhone 18 Pro's camera will also feature something called Apple Reference Image, which identifies AI-edited content at a pixel-level. Apple says this is unalterable, and the information will be available in the Apple Photos app. Apple is also supporting the Synth ID standard, to help identify AI imagery from other devices.
On the front the Dynamic Island has shrunk, and now has the ability to display three different activities at once. There was no mention of under-display Face ID, which suggests this particular rumor didn't ring true.
Battery
Apple doesn't brag about battery specs the way other phone companies do, but it is promising big upgrades to the iPhone 18 Pro's battery. Batteries have been redesigned and offer more capacity than before, though we don't know by how much. All Apple has said is that iPhone 18 Pro Max has the largest battery increase of any iPhone.
This means we'll have to wait for teardowns to uncover just how much extra capacity is available in both phones.
Apple claims that the iPhone 18 Pro has an all-day battery life rivalling that of the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Specifically that means 24 hours of charge and 36 hours of video playback. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is supposed to offer 30 hours of usage and 45 hours of video playback, which is actually pretty incredible when you think about it.
Charging speed has also been increased, with Apple claiming the phones can recoup 50% of its battery life in just 15 minutes. Five minutes of charging should offer up to seven hours of video playback, for those keeping score. This is reliant on using a 60W charger, though.
Price
I'm sad to say that there is a price hike this year, with prices starting at $1,199 / AU$2,099 for the iPhone 18 Pro and $1,299 AU$2,299 for the Pro Max. That's a $100 price increase compared to last year.
Color options include black, silver, glacier (light blue) and burgundy. Storage is set to 256GB as standard, though Apple does have a bunch of additional storage options — including a 2TB option for the Pro model. Previously that level of storage had been exclusively available on the Pro Max.
Pre-orders open this Saturday, September 12, ahead of a September 18 release date. In the U.S., Apple Upgrade plans start at $35 a month, and you can get up to $1,200 off if you trade-in an iPhone 14 or newer.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for more details.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
More from Tom's Guide
