Not every phone update needs to look that different. Sometimes you need a year where the tech changes significantly enough to matter, but the design stays the same.
Years ago in the world of the iPhone, these would be known as an “s” year, while the software world has also called that a “dot release”. It’s often smaller changes that can make a big difference, such as a better camera or improvements to the battery management.
This year in the 2026 to 2027 iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, things are very much feeling that way.
Announced this week as the first of the iPhone 18 models to land (and right now, the only iPhone 18-named models being launched), the 18 Pro and Pro Max look like last year’s iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, but feature newly updated tech in possibly all the right ways.
The screens are the same 6.3 and 6.9 inch displays they respectively were, and the aluminium unibody and action button are also the same as they were, complete with identical Ceramic Shield front and back for scratch resistance and IP68 water resistance.
Outside of a colour change, the new phones look like the old phones. But these changes are skin deep, and promise to delivery better goods for people who love taking photos and for people who yearn for better battery life.
Aperture in a phone
For starters, there’s what’s going on in the camera, which will see the same 48 megapixel ultra-wide and 48 megapixel telephoto cameras, but will upgrade the 48 megapixel main camera significantly to make it more like a proper camera lens.
Over in the world of dedicated cameras, lenses tend not to have an aperture that’s stuck in place. Even if you have a low-light lens, you can still increase the aperture, which in turn increases the amount of depth. A low F-stop and aperture means shallow depth, and gets the sort of shots “portrait” modes emulate with software tricks, while a high F-stop increases the depth.
Phones haven’t really offered that because of the moving parts. To add apertures, you need aperture blades, and that means moving parts inside the camera to do the cool aperture trick.
In the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, phones will see aperture blades capable of handling variable apertures across F1.48, F1.8, F2.8, and F4, making it more like a real camera.
Worth noting that while this is definitely cool, Apple isn’t really the first here. Samsung definitely dabbled in something similar with variable apertures in 2018 with the Galaxy S9, but gave up on the idea in 2010.
Even the Leica Leitzphone by Xiaomi didn’t quite go to this extreme in camera-like prowess, so this gives Apple a neat trick no other phone is doing.
And we simply can’t wait to try.
Better battery tech
There are also improvements in the battery, with Apple noting a change from up to 31 hours video playback in the 17 Pro now up to 34 in the 18 Pro, while the Pro Max goes from 37 to 43 hours in total.
For most people, that should be a day and a half roughly on the standard 6.3 inch model and as much as two days on the Pro Max.
Apple has stopped short in saying what the technology is that lets it get this, beyond noting “powerful silicon efficiencies”. That could mean processor improvements from the A20 Pro processor, or it could also be a use of silicon-carbon. We’ll just have to wait and see. However, better battery life inside the same 8.75mm thickness as its predecessor isn’t a bad thing.
Updated bits and bobs
Elsewhere on the inside, Apple’s hardware also sees an upgrade as the A20 Pro becomes the best-in-class tech for its phones, a new spot of hardware with a 6-core CPU, 7-core graphics chip, and dual 16-core Neural Engine for all the local AI you’re probably not yet running but could later on down the track.
That new hardware is actually inspired by the tech used in Apple’s computers from the M-silicon, which sees the chip redesigned and a different approach to cooling for its phones, making its hardware perform even better than before.
Apple will also offer a curious response to AI in the form of a “reference photo” mode, which can show you what an original photo looked like before it was edited. Make of that what you will.
Wireless connections meanwhile remain the same, offering WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 5G, making it fast and ready for the future, albeit not made to take advantage of the handful of WiFi 8 devices gradually making their way out.
Australian pricing and availability
Pricing does see a bit of a change, mostly expected given the past increases on the iPad and Mac line, which means the 18 Pro will start $100 higher at $2099, as does the 18 Pro Max which now starts at $2299 instead of the 17 Pro Max’s $2199 price point.
Availability is expected next week from September 18, with pre-orders kicking off from September 12, and available in four colours, including black, silver, burgundy, and glacier.
