It’s that time of the year again and no, we’re not talking about the holidays—Apple has finally taken the wraps off the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, both of which bring new upgrades while at the same time keeping things mostly familiar for Apple fans. The new phones were announced alongside the company’s first-ever foldable, the iPhone Duo.
One of the biggest highlights of the new Pro models this year are the camera upgrades, and Apple has decided to include a new 48MP main camera with an adjustable variable aperture. This isn’t exactly new technology though, as we’ve seen the same kind of technology from brands like Xiaomi, Huawei and even Samsung, to name a few. That said, Apple has opted for a design which uses a six-blade rotor mechanism, allowing for both automatic and manual adjustment when controlling depth of field and low-light capture—think of it like how an actual camera lens moves.
Image: Apple
Apple is also introducing Apple Reference Image, a security feature that records signed sensor data to create an unalterable digital negative for verifying photo authenticity; additionally, the “Photographic styles” camera tool now gets support for texture and grain control.
Image: Apple
The iPhone 18 Pro also comes with Apple’s new A20 Pro processor, a 2nm chip which features a 6-core CPU with integrated Neural Accelerators and a 7-core GPU that boosts rendering speeds by up to 40 percent, in addition to a dual 16-core Neural Engine. If this all sounds like mambo-jumbo to you, it essentially means that the phone will be able to handle AI software, video processing, and gaming a lot faster versus older models. There’s also a built-in vapour chamber, which means that the phone will remain relatively cool during intense gaming and usage.
Image: Apple
In front, the 18 Pro and Pro Max feature 6.3 and 6.9-inch displays respectively, and this time around they do get a slightly smaller Dynamic Island, which will be able to display up to three Live Activities simultaneously. In terms of design however Apple has kept things mostly the same, right down to the camera plateau, so you’d be forgiven to mistake the 18 Pro for last year’s 17 Pro.
READ: Apple’s iPhone Duo Arrives 7 Years Late. Did Apple Get It Right?
Available in black, silver, glacier, and an all-new burgundy finish with storage configurations ranging from 256GB to 2TB, the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 while the iPhone 18 Pro Max comes in at $1,299. Pre-orders kick off on Saturday, September 12, with official store availability following on Friday, September 18.