iPhone 18 Pro series is here with a feature Android flagships abandoned years ago

Another September, another iPhone event, but this time, things are a little different. Apple is skipping the base iPhone, so there’s no iPhone 18 to be found (it’s likely to launch in March 2027, according to leaks). Instead, the iPhone 18 series currently features the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, along with the new iPhone Duo foldable, which is the star of the show. The iPhone 18 Pro series is a refinement over the iPhone 17 Pro series, with new features like a variable aperture on the main camera, something that Android experimented with years ago! Nevertheless, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max are here, and they set the baseline expectation for every Android flagship launching from now on.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max: Release date, price, and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at a higher $1,199 price tag for its 256GB option, marking a $100 increase over the same variant on the iPhone 17 Pro. Similarly, the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 for its 256GB variant, a $100 increase over the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max: Colors

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max come in four different colors: Black, Glacier (light blue), Silver, and Burgundy. There’s no Cosmic Orange this time around, but the Burgundy color should let you get just as much attention. The other color options will work better for users who want to keep it subtle.

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max: Features

The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max featured plenty of noticeable changes over their predecessors, but the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max stick closer to the 17 Pro’s formula, with just some refinements on top.

Design and build quality

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max continue to feature an aluminium frame for better thermal performance — there’s no switching back to titanium happening this generation.

Apple is also continuing with the glass cutout for wireless charging instead of switching back to an all-glass back, thus maintaining the two-tone look that has now become a signature of the Pro iPhones — but the back glass is much more color-matched this time around. The back glass portion is made of Apple’s Ceramic Shield, while the display on the front is protected by the Ceramic Shield 2.

Apple started using a vapor chamber on the last generation iPhone Pros, and with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, it’s improving on the design and size for better cooling performance. Android flagships have had this for many, many years, and it works out quite well in everyone’s experience.

Apple is also retaining the Camera Control and Action buttons. The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max also continue to be IP68 for water and dust resistance, with Apple promising water resistance up to 6m depth for up to 30 minutes.

Display and size

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max largely retain their display specifications from last year, with display diagonals measuring 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch, respectively. What changes this year is that we’re getting a smaller Dynamic Island, giving us more usable screen real estate and allowing up to three active items instead of just two.

Outside of this change, the iPhone 18 Pro series continues to sport a Super Retina XDR OLED display with excellent colors and viewing angles, and an anti-reflective coating.

Camera

One of the highlights of this year is the new variable-aperture camera on both the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The 48MP Fusion Main camera goes from a fixed f/1.78 aperture on last year’s model to a new f/1.48-f/4 aperture range. The phone changes the aperture mechanically, allowing for better low-light performance with a wider aperture, as well as sharper focus and lower risk of overexposure in well-lit scenarios with a narrower aperture.

We’ve seen several Android brands play with variable apertures in the past. Samsung was the first to adopt variable aperture on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S10 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. However, the company discontinued the technology after that, as variable aperture increased the camera thickness and pricing. More recently, we’ve seen phones from HUAWEI, HONOR, and Xiaomi use variable aperture. With the iPhone 18 Pro Max sporting this upgrade, you can expect variable aperture to become mainstream across Android flagships very soon.

Apple is adopting a simpler variable-aperture setup that switches between four preset levels. In contrast, older phones like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra used a stepless variable aperture that could stop anywhere between the two levels, giving the system and users more control over the aperture for any given situation.

The rest of the camera setup on the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max remains common and the same as last year. Regular images are pixel-binned to 12MP, though you can choose 24MP or 48MP shots as well. You can also get 2x zoom shots at 12MP by cropping into 48MP shots.

Ultrawide duties are handled by the same 48MP, f/2.2 sensor with autofocus and macro photography capabilities as before.

The tetraprism (aka periscope zoom) is the same 48MP, 4x optical zoom sensor as last year, with an f/2.8 aperture and sensor-shift OIS. This camera can also capture 12MP photos and offers 8x lossless zoom.

The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max can shoot 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120fps. The iOS Camera app also comes with additional Pro controls, such as manual controls (finally!) and a histogram display. Photographic Styles now also comes with more unique looks with texture and grain control.

Performance

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max make the jump to Apple’s 2nm A20 Pro chip, an upgrade from the A19 Pro chip on the iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple does not disclose the RAM capacity on iPhones, so we’ll update this when we learn more from regulatory filings.

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are offered in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB variants, a first for the iPhone Pro.

Battery life and charging speed

Apple also does not disclose battery capacity details for iPhones, but like last year, the eSIM-only variants (sold in the US) will have extra battery capacity because they no longer need the physical space for a SIM card.

As for fast charging, Apple says the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max can charge from 0% to 50% in 15 minutes with a 40W or higher adapter via a USB-C cable. The two phones also support MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging up to 25W.

Software and updates

The iPhone 18 Pro series launches with the latest iOS 27, though it misses out on the multitasking features that the iPhone Duo foldable gets.

Apple makes no promises about the number of updates the iPhone 18 Pro will receive, nor does it comment on their frequency or timeliness. However, the company has an excellent record of delivering updates to its lineup of supported iPhones for many years, so you can bank on the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max getting updated and supported for a long time, with updates reaching very quickly even as the phone ages.

This is a developing story from a live event. Please check back in later for more information.