Apple’s latest iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max brings a range of new features and upgrades over the iPhone 17 pro and pro max. But how much has really changed, and is the latest Pro model worth the upgrade?
Design and Build
The iPhone 18 pro is packed with new features and design. The iPhone 18 Pro features a faster A20 Pro chip, a new variable-aperture main camera, improved battery life and a smaller Dynamic Island, but overall, it represents a relatively modest upgrade over the iPhone 17 pro.
This new phone introduces a variable-aperture camera for the first time, while building on the foundation of the 17 Pro with a series of incremental improvements. For photography enthusiasts and demanding users, those changes should translate into greater flexibility, longer-lasting battery life and stronger overall performance.
The iPhone 18 Pro introduces burgundy as its standout new finish, alongside lighter glacier blue and silver options. Black also makes a return to the lineup. By comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro comes in deep blue, cosmic orange and silver.
The iPhone 18 Pro retains much of the same design language as its predecessor, with an aluminium unibody, Ceramic Shield 2 and the familiar camera plateau. Its dimensions are unchanged, although it has gained a little weight, coming in at 211g compared with 204g for the iPhone 17 Pro.
Display and Performance
Display is another area where the iPhone 18 Pro closely mirrors its predecessor. Both models feature a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel with a 2622 × 1206 resolution, an always-on display and ProMotion technology with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Brightness levels are unchanged between the two models, with both reaching up to 1,600 nits for HDR content and 3,000 nits in outdoor conditions. They can also dim as low as 1 nit and feature the same anti-reflective coating.
Camera Design
The iPhone 18 Pro retains the same triple-camera setup, comprising 48MP main, ultrawide and telephoto sensors. However, it introduces a significant first for the iPhone range: a variable aperture on the main camera, giving users greater control over how much light reaches the sensor.
A wider aperture allows more light to reach the sensor while creating a shallower depth of field, helping separate subjects from the background. Closing the aperture keeps a greater portion of the scene in focus. Apple claims the f/1.48 setting delivers up to 50% better low-light performance, while switching to f/2.8 increases the depth of field. For maximum depth of field, users can select f/4, with f/1.8 serving as the default aperture.
The remaining cameras carry over from the iPhone 17 Pro, including a 48MP ultrawide with a 120-degree field of view and a 48MP 4x telephoto lens, which also offers 12MP optical-quality 8x zoom. Digital zoom extends this to 40x, while the front of the phone retains the same 18MP selfie camera.
Battery Life
Battery life is another area where the iPhone 18 Pro makes a noticeable improvement. The iPhone 17 Pro is rated for up to 31 hours of video playback and 28 hours of streamed video, while the newer model increases those figures to 34 and 31 hours respectively.
Apple has also provided a more useful real-world estimate for the iPhone 18 Pro, claiming up to 23 hours of battery life with typical use on a single charge.
Wired charging gets a speed boost on the iPhone 18 Pro, too. While the iPhone 17 Pro can reach 50% charge in around 20 minutes when paired with a 40W adapter or higher, the newer model can achieve the same level in just 15 minutes with a 60W adapter or more. MagSafe charging remains unchanged, taking around 30 minutes to reach 50%.
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