The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have been unveiled during Apple’s “Surprise and Shine” event on Sept. 9, and while they may not have the fancy folding display of Apple’s expected iPhone Ultra, these phones are packed with the latest tech Apple has to offer. From new A20 Bionic processors, upgrades to the cameras and, yes, some fresh colors too, there’s a lot to be excited about.
The iPhone 18 Pro will start at $1,199 in the US, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max will set you back $1,299, both with 256GB of storage. They’ll be available for preorder this Saturday and will go on sale on Sept. 18.
The cameras have “the biggest camera upgrades in years,” according to Apple, with the Pro models having a variable aperture on the main 48 megapixel camera. It uses six aperture blades, each thinner than a human hair, that actually open and close to affect the aperture — opening up to let in more light at night and closing down for better depth of field when there’s plenty of light.
On the software side, there are updates to the interface, including new Pro controls to make it easier to access settings for manual controls over white balance or aperture. There are also more options for adjusting the look of Apple’s Photographic Styles. Apple will also support Google’s SynthID standard for authenticating images not created with AI, along with Apple’s own new standard for authentication.
The A20 Pro chip has been rebuilt from the ground up, making it 20% faster than the previous model and, Apple says, the fastest CPU in any smartphone. And sure, it’s also geared specifically toward better AI computing. Because AI remains the name of the game. There’s a massive thermal cooling system, too, to stop it from overheating when you’re really maxing it out with demanding games.
The batteries have seen a bump, with Apple promising the Pro Max will deliver 45 hours of video playback. We already know how good the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s battery is, so it’s going to be very interesting to see those models go head-to-head.
Apple talked a lot about Apple Intelligence and how Siri will use AI. We saw a demo of how Siri is able to pull information from messages, your email and a variety of other apps to answer your questions. You can also use it via the camera (Visual Intelligence) to ask questions about what you’re seeing in front of you.
There’s a new Siri app that will archive your previous conversations in order for you to revisit them and follow up on previous questions you’ve asked. Meanwhile, Apple’s AI will also let you do various things to your photos, including expanding the canvas or removing objects from the scene — with better accuracy than it could before.
The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max were among our favorite phones of the past year. They’ve impressed not just with their stellar performance but also with their camera skills. I pitted the iPhone 17 Pro’s video skills against a fully fledged cinema camera setup, and it held its own admirably as part of a pro movie-making setup.
But Apple continues to face stiff competition in the photography arena, with Xiaomi and Leica’s Leitzphone earning a coveted CNET Editors’ Choice award for its exceptional imaging skills. How Apple’s latest phones stack up against its Android rivals remains to be seen.
This is a developing story and will be updated as Apple releases more information during its live event.
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