In a year with no base model and a new very high-end model, the iPhone 18 Pro has a lot to prove. After a few weeks testing it, pro and average users alike will find a lot to love.
For the fall 2026 event, Apple mixed things up. Instead of introducing a new base phone, a new iPhone Air, and two new Pros, Apple debuted the two Pros and the iPhone Duo.
Although the iPhone Duo has yet to launch, its announcement may affect purchase plans among prospective iPhone 18 Pro buyers. A new iPhone Air, meanwhile, isn’t expected until early 2027.
Here, I’m going to be digging deep into the iPhone 18 Pro. I have the 256GB model in black, though it’s also available in 128GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Design changes & updates
I’d call this an “S” year iPhone, borrowing a term from the era of two-year phone contracts. Back then, Apple alternated between major redesigns and years focused on performance upgrades.
In performance-upgrade years, Apple kept the phone’s overall design and focused on improving its internals. That pattern appeared with the iPhone 3G and 3GS, iPhone 4 and 4S, and iPhone X and XS.
That cadence isn’t as relevant as it used to be, but it’s what you can expect when going into the iPhone 18 Pro. It has basically the same design as the iPhone 17 Pro with a lot of internal changes.
iPhone 18 Pro review: iPhone 18 Pro has the same 6.3-inch display
You can choose either the iPhone 18 Pro with a 6.3-inch display or the iPhone 18 Pro Max with a 6.9-inch display. Here, I’m focusing on the smaller of the two, and we’ve broken out the iPhone 18 Pro Max into a separate review.
iPhone 18 Pro comes in four colors this year. You can pick between an updated silver, a matte black, Glacier, or burgundy.
I’ve been using the black model, with silver and burgundy versions also available in the studio. After seeing all four colors at the unveiling, I found it difficult to choose a favorite.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The new iPhone 18 Pro silver (right) compared to the old iPhone 17 Pro (left)
I usually prefer lighter finishes, and both Glacier and silver stood out to me. The black finish grew on me with use.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The matte black iPhone 18 Pro
The finish is very dark, with glass that matches the rest of the phone. It also readily shows fingerprints, which can leave the body looking smudged.
Fortunately, fingerprints wipe off easily, and it bothered me less than I thought. Since the body is aluminum, I do expect to see some wear marks, such as around the camera plateau, after a year of regular use with no case.
iPhone 18 Pro review: iPhone 18 Pro in Apple’s TechWoven case
On the left side of the phone, you have the Action Button above the volume controls. The right side has the sleep/wake button and the Camera Control.
The metal body wraps around the back, giving way to a piece of glass that affords 25W MagSafe wireless charging. On the camera plateau, there is a trio of 48MP cameras (ultra-wide, main, and telephoto), the TrueTone flash, and a LiDAR that can aid focus.
On the bottom, you have the USB-C port, which supports fast data transfers and charging.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Display
Not much has changed with the display this time around. It’s the same size, though Apple did put the Face ID infrared camera behind the display.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The under-screen IR camera that is used for Face ID is now in the top-left corner
The IR camera is in the top-left corner, and you can see it if you look for it under the right lighting. Some users have said that Face ID has been problematic for them and blame the new under-screen IR camera.
I can say that in my few weeks with the iPhone 18 Pro, I’ve never had Face ID fail on me. That makes me think that if this is an issue, it’s limited and perhaps software-related.
Apple has already rolled out iOS 27.0.1, fixing one Face ID issue on the new devices. What I do believe will impact Face ID now are certain screen protectors.
Matte anti-glare screen protectors typically leave a cutout or glossy section over the Face ID camera. Early versions appear incompatible with the relocated camera, suggesting accessory makers weren’t prepared for the change.
By relocating the IR camera to the corner, Apple was able to shrink the Dynamic Island. Since it’s smaller, you can now track up to three Live Activities at once.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The new Dynamic Island is smaller and supports 3 Live Activities
So far, I haven’t noticed this much. There are times when I have three Live Activities, but it isn’t as useful as I thought it would be.
It’s a nice-to-have, but don’t expect to be overly thrilled with the slightly smaller size.
The screen retains Apple’s Ceramic Shield 2 coating, which has impressed me with its scratch resistance. I previously criticized the fine scratches that accumulated on my screen after just a few months of use.
Ceramic Shield 2 on my iPhone 17 Pro held up so well that my screen was completely pristine after a whole year. That’s with keys, coins, and other stuff in my pocket that used to damage the display.
Since it has the same finish here, I expect the glass to hold up just as well.
Otherwise, it’s Apple’s typical great display tech. An always-on Super Retina XDR panel with a 2,000,000-to-1 contrast ratio, 1000 nits of usual brightness, and 3000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.
It has ProMotion for adjustable frame rates that intelligently go up to 120Hz when needed. It looks fantastic.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Apple Intelligence
Not specific to iPhone 18 Pro are Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. Like iPhone 17 Pro, there are a few somewhat exclusive features, like the customizable Siri voice that gets processed on device.
Much of Siri’s AI processing uses Apple’s Private Cloud Compute (PCC), so general performance has felt largely unchanged. Siri answers general knowledge questions just as quickly as before.
If I had one spot that was quicker, it’s with Visual Intelligence, or what is now the new Siri mode in the Camera app. Just long-press the Camera Control and the Camera app will launch straight into Siri mode.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Using Siri AI to diagnose my apples
It was faster to recognize objects and start processing them before I tried to do anything. Scanning the apples in my backyard, it was able to diagnose the blemishes in only a second or two.
Apple Intelligence touches so many facets of your phone. Things like deep indexing of all your messages, emails, calls, calendars, notes, and apps to answer questions, Extend and Reframe in Photos, or the new Writing Tools.
There is Image Playground, Live Translation, deep world knowledge, HomeKit Secure Video camera analysis, and more that all live under the umbrella term. I think Apple Intelligence is becoming a lot more useful, and iOS 27 has put a lot of polish into these intelligent features.
There are a few areas where I start to see speed improvements, at least when it can be handled on the device. Using Genmoji took a second and a half to create an iced latte emoji on my iPhone 18 Pro, but it took about 3 seconds on my iPhone 17 Pro.
I’m certain Apple is going to keep adding Apple Intelligence features throughout iOS, so I think we’ll continue to see better performance as those show up.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Battery
For the iPhone 18 Pro, it can charge wirelessly via MagSafe or Qi2 at up to 25W. If you prefer wired, Apple has boosted the speed, and it can now support up to 60W of input power instead of maxing out at 40W.
The phone also officially supports AVS, or Adjustable Voltage Supply. An AVS charger will increase to a higher wattage before settling down at a lower one and can adjust in smaller intervals.
Typical chargers have preset outputs that they go between, whereas an AVS charger is more granular and can tailor the input speeds second by second to what your phone needs.
With a compatible charger, you can charge the battery to 50% in just 15 minutes. That makes a quick top-up useful when your battery runs low during the day.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Placing iPhone 18 Pro on a MagSafe charger
I primarily use MagSafe, so I rarely plug my phone in to charge. Wired charging proved faster during testing, but the improvement hasn’t felt essential for my routine.
What I liked more was the increase in battery life. Apple says for video playback, the phone has increased from 33 hours to 36 hours.
iPhone 18 Pro review: StandBy mode on a MagSafe charger
I’m a heavy user since I’m constantly posting short-form videos to socials, and I was used to charging frequently. I have noticed a difference and have started to have less fear about my phone dying early.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Performance
The iPhone 18 Pro runs on Apple’s latest A20 Pro processor. It’s the first iPhone chip manufactured using a 2nm process.
The 2nm process improves performance and power efficiency across the phone. The chip has a six-core CPU with two super cores and four efficiency cores.
This is the first time Apple is using super cores on its iPhone chip after first debuting on the Mac. The GPU has 7 cores and has new Neural Accelerators.
Additionally, we get dual 16-core Neural Engines. It’s a big improvement year-over-year for intensive tasks.
As in recent years, you’re unlikely to notice much improvement in everyday use. Even substantial speed gains make little difference when opening apps, browsing social media, or checking email.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Geekbench 7 single-core results
I did start to notice it with anything that pushed the silicon. Launching games was quicker, as was running complex shortcuts.
My iPhone 17 Pro took 24 seconds to launch a new game of Civ VII, and my iPhone 18 Pro was way faster at 15 seconds. This was on high quality, standard color, and identical game settings.
In the Photos app, using the on-device fast version of the Clean Up tool, the iPhone 18 Pro took 3 seconds compared to 5 seconds for the identical task on the iPhone 17 Pro.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Geekbench results on iPhone 18 Pro
In Geekbench 7 benchmarks, iPhone 18 Pro scored 3927 for the single-core, up significantly from the 3168 my iPhone 17 Pro scored, both on iOS 27.2 beta. The multi-core went from 8258 to 10462.
That’s more than a 24% improvement for the single-core and almost a 27% improvement for the multi-core. It’s no surprise that the iPhone 18 Pro feels so much faster in these prolonged tasks.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Geekbench 7 multi-core results
Not only are we seeing higher scores in benchmarks, but sustained performance is better thanks to the next-generation vapor chamber. Apple says it has a larger surface area as well as more conductive material.
This has caused the phone to feel hot at times, but that’s partially by design. Aluminum is great at conducting heat, so the more efficient liquid cooling is pulling that heat from the internal components and using the aluminum to dissipate that heat.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Graphics got a huge jump for iPhone 18 Pro
On the graphics side, Geekbench 7 Metal test earned 61961 on iPhone 18 Pro and 42465 on iPhone 17 Pro.
Between the improved cooling and new chip, this is one of the largest generational improvements we’ve seen on iPhone.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Variable aperture
Despite a slew of software-related changes, the headlining feature for the camera is Apple’s impressive variable aperture main lens. Six exceptionally thin blades come together to control how much light is able to hit the camera’s sensor.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The variable aperture closed (left) and open (right) on the main lens
Aperture can be a confusing thing, and not just because making it smaller, or lower in value, will increase the background bokeh while simultaneously shrinking the depth of the in-focus area. It’s typically been more of a “pro” control for DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
Almost everyone can benefit from this feature, even without manually adjusting the aperture.
Compared to the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple was able to increase the overall aperture from an f/1.78 to an f/1.48. Apple likely would have been happy to do this before, but it presented obstacles.
If the main aperture was widened to a fixed f/1.48, certain shots would result in too much unintended blur. People in group photos often stand at different distances from the camera.
A fixed f/1.48 aperture creates a shallow depth of field, which can leave some faces out of focus.
What Apple was able to achieve here is a faster (wider) aperture, but made it adjustable. Group shots will keep everyone in focus with a higher aperture like an f/4.0, but solo portraits or low-light shots can move to an f/1.48 to allow more light in and have more stylized background bokeh.
You’ll still benefit if you leave the camera in automatic mode and never adjust the aperture yourself. For certain photos and videos, the camera automatically selects f/1.48 to improve image quality.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Comparing the f/1.48 to f/4.0 aperture differences
Since the launch, I’ve seen a lot of people suggesting there is little to no difference in their photos going from the iPhone 17 Pro to the iPhone 18 Pro, and they’re likely not wrong. They’re just comparing the wrong photos.
The only real change in the camera hardware is the variable aperture, so it’s only in shots that benefit from a faster aperture that you’ll see improvements in the photos.
For me, the first thing I noticed in taking photos of my kids is that it doesn’t switch to Night Mode as frequently. The wider aperture allows in more light, reducing the requirement to switch into the long-shutter Night Mode.
Even in the past few weeks, trying to take photos of my kids when we’re playing in their room before bed, it’s been great. Kids don’t stay still, especially when playing, so I’ve got a lot of photos I wouldn’t have been able to get just a month ago.
When taking photos in New York City after sundown, I also noticed improvement in photos when directly comparing the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro. Sometimes the noise reduction on the iPhone 17 Pro was too aggressive, resulting in some deformities in objects, like warped window panes.
Some of these changes may be because of the faster aperture, but some could be attributed to the A20 Pro image signal processor (ISP) as well.
It is pixel peeping to a degree, but it’s a measurable improvement generation-to-generation. If you ever plan on cropping in any low-light photos, those small details matter more.
The last thing you’ll notice is less blur in photos. Since the aperture can be wider and allow more light in, it allows the shutter speed to increase and capture the same shot.
That’s why sometimes lower/wider apertures are called “faster.” Looking at kiddos again, a faster shutter will mean sharper images more often.
If you compare a shot of your backyard during the day with the iPhone 17 Pro and compare it to the iPhone 18 Pro, you likely will not see a difference. But for average users, the difference can be real in the right scenarios.
For pro users, things can go further. I thoroughly enjoyed stepping down the aperture to f/1.48 when taking photos of food, my kids, tech gadgets in the studio, and more.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The new manual controls for the variable aperture
You can see the difference easily when adjusting between the f/1.48 and f/4.0 that are made available. If you happen to use a third-party camera app like the Moment Pro Camera, you can get even more granular with 1/3 f-stops instead of the four predefined ones Apple offers.
One thing I’ve loved doing is stepping up the aperture to an f/2.8 or f/4.0 for low-light shots. Because of the new blades that slide in front of the lens, this causes starburst effects to appear on light sources.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Slow shutter and an f/4.0 created blur in the street and starburst effects on the lights
Some may not like this, but I love it. It makes something coming out of your iPhone feel more like something off of a dedicated camera.
To be clear, the variable aperture is not going to give you the same degree of bokeh as a real camera with a full-size sensor due to the tiny size of the sensor. But it isn’t a gimmick, and I think it’s one of the bigger upgrades Apple has added to the Camera in years.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Photographic Styles 3
If I’m being honest with myself, I rarely use Photographic Styles. I should say, I used to rarely use them.
The new iPhone 18 Pro changed that.
Apple is releasing the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max with Photographic Styles 3, and it’s a big change. In addition to a change in how you adjust them that will arrive on older devices, the newest ones gain texture.
Photographic Styles, available alongside all other camera controls, can be persistent and applied to all photos you take, or adjusted on a one-off basis. This is a toggle in the Settings app.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Black and white shot from iPhone 18 Pro with film style
If you choose one of the many styles, you can slide your finger up and down and left and right on a grid to adjust the tone and color, respectively. If you drag your finger below the grid, you can adjust the intensity of the style from 0 to 100.
The big new additions are the textures, which live in a separate tab within each style. You can choose between soft skin, glow, and film, and each of these can have grain applied.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Apple’s new skin softening texture, which works decently well even with a beard
The soft skin effect is popular in apps like FaceTune. It adds a slight blur or softening to skin, which can be flattering.
Glow is more subtle, adding a very slight glowing effect to subjects. This one could be more aggressive, but Apple typically doesn’t like to overly distort photos.
iPhone 18 Pro review: A night shot of 30 Rock with the film style and grain applied
The last texture is film, which is my favorite. I love shooting on my Nikon Zf, which has film effects and is amazing for summer beaches, fall landscapes, or black and white cityscapes.
Combining the film effect with the grain is a winning combo for me, and I love the sample shots I took with it. I think Apple should update this to allow more control over the grain, such as size and amount, but this is an excellent first implementation.
iPhone 18 Pro review: A low-light shot of a street vendor with the black and white film style applied
I’ve used this feature far more often than earlier versions of Photographic Styles, enabling it for a variety of shots. It’s useful enough that I expect to keep using it regularly.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Pro Controls and a lot more
Aside from the new faster aperture and new Photographic Styles 3, Apple also baked in a slew of software enhancements that are exclusive to the new devices. The biggest and most meaningful of those changes is what Apple is calling Pro Controls.
Pro Controls is a collection of manual camera settings that, until now, would have required users to download a third-party app. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s also great to see these integrated into the stock offering.
Perhaps, in part, the fruit of former Halide developer Sebastiaan de With, who Apple officially hired at the beginning of 2026. As part of the design team, he surely had some impact here.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Customizable controls on iPhone 18 Pro
These controls consist of the aforementioned manual aperture, shutter speed, focus, and white balance. You can toggle on a histogram, too.
The controls are very well thought out and simple to use. My only gripe is that none of these new controls are available on the Camera Control.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The Camera Control on iPhone 18 Pro
Apple’s touch-sensitive button persists, and I remain adamant that it is the best way to open the Camera app, and often the best way to take photos. Sometimes the touch controls can be fiddly, but they can always be disabled.
I’m one who uses the Camera Control usually for zoom, but I think sliding my finger to control the aperture would be my new go-to and seems a natural fit here. It seems trivial for Apple to have included them, regardless of whether it plans to remove the touch sensitivity in future versions.
Using these controls, you can get some amazing shots from the iPhone 18 Pro. My personal favorite as of late has been the shutter speed. If you prolong the shutter, you can take these long-exposure shots with blurred movement.
iPhone 18 Pro review: I love this photo I shot of Radio City Music Hall with the blurred taxis in the foreground
In New York City, I got a series of shots in front of Radio City Music Hall with cars and taxis blurring past in the foreground. My kids playing with glow sticks was also really fun to photograph.
White balance has historically been a pain for me on mobile. On my primary camera, I always set a fixed white balance because, depending on what I am shooting, it can adjust mid-shoot and ruin the shot.
Imagine shooting a set of AirPods with the white case, and they go from blue to yellow based on the background and lights in the room. It’s frustrating, to say the least, and I’d have to lock the white balance when locking the exposure and focus beforehand.
Apple gives you five preset white balances to choose from: tungsten, cloudy, fluorescent, daylight, and shadow. Each of these has its corresponding Kelvin value displayed.
iPhone 18 Pro review: A slow manual shutter let me capture the nice blur on the water fountain
Other apps give you an actual slider to dial in the Kelvin value to exactly what you want, but the presets will be good enough for most users.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the manual focus was more than meets the eye. Instead of simply giving you a dial that you can use to change the focus, Apple went further.
The interface breaks the system down into its three individual cameras. You can now manually choose whether you’re shooting with the ultra-wide, main, or telephoto.
It seems counterintuitive, but this is something you could not do in the default Camera app before. Sometimes you thought you were using the telephoto, but you weren’t.
If you would zoom in, the app would intelligently determine which camera to use — a cropped version of the main camera or the telephoto lens.
Sometimes, cropping in the main sensor in lower light is preferable to switching the dedicated telephoto lens. But the focus control specifically lets you choose between the three and adjust the focus for them.
When you adjust the focus, it includes focus peaking. As you slide your finger on the focus control, the image dims and the in-focus part of the image will outline in white.
That way, you can tell instantly which part of the frame you’re focusing on. It’s very useful.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Taking pics with the new iPhone 18 Pro camera system
Speaking of focus, that is something else that has greatly improved. Apple now has true subject tracking autofocus.
In both photo and video modes, you can double-tap on a subject. As that subject moves, the focus will follow it.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Subject tracking keeps the focus even if they move off-screen and back
This persists even if the subject moves off-screen, which is great for kids or sports. It worked well, though it did take a moment or so to lock back on at times when the subject returned to the frame.
To help make these controls easier to access, the Camera app is now customizable. The good news is that this customizable interface will come to older phones, even if they don’t have the Pro Controls.
I pinned the stuff I use most right at the top of the interface, such as the aperture, shutter speed, styles, and focus. They’re quick to access, though I hope Apple expands the interface options down the line with additional placement positions.
Somehow, Apple has many more camera features I haven’t touched on or played around with enough yet. Cinematic mode, for example, can now apply the blur after the fact to any video you capture, not just in the dedicated Cinematic shooting mode.
There are new options for audio mix, which is designed for music and can boost singing alongside the instrumentation. Everyone’s Grayson Smith piano videos from Disney World are going to be even better now!
Timelapse videos can now be filmed in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR. They have stabilization now too, which will help for brief handheld shoots.
Finally, Apple introduced Reference Image. This is off by default, but cryptographically ties an image to your exact phone at the time of capture.
I think the main example of this would be photojournalism. You’ll know a photo was unaltered and taken on an iPhone and not something AI-generated.
This only works on the main lens, and Apple describes it as a secure digital negative. When you take a picture, you’ll have the photo and the reference image stored in your Camera Roll.
When you share the photo, if anyone debates the authenticity, you can verify it against the Reference Image. When Reference Image is turned on, you need to shoot in the new Reference mode, and only some effects, like Live Photos, Portraits, and Photographic Styles, will work.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Should you upgrade this time around?
With the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple delivered a stellar upgrade. Even from iPhone 17 Pro, there are a lot of things that I appreciate.
Not to say I’m advocating for everyone with an iPhone 17 Pro to upgrade, though. A lot of people may not notice these differences, like if they aren’t doing a ton on their phone, don’t use Apple Intelligence features, don’t go through battery life, and don’t take a ton of photos.
For me, this is a huge “S” year upgrade, and it feels like Apple is listening to its users. This upgrade focused heavily on camera, performance/heat, and battery.
The number of camera changes is huge. We get new Pro Controls, Photographic Styles 3 with textures, next-gen Cinematic mode after capture, Reference Images, variable aperture, improved low-light performance, better audio mix, and more.
Multi-core performance is up over 27%, with sustained performance up to 40% better. Even average users are going to start noticing load times being faster.
Battery on the base Pro is longer than it’s ever been, and new faster charging helps you keep it there. These are all great changes to see for the iPhone 18 Pro.
iPhone 18 Pro review: The black color looks striking
My complaints are fairly minimal, like missing the vibrant Cosmic Orange color and the lack of the Camera Control. They certainly wouldn’t stop me from buying this phone.
The only reason not to recommend this is if you’re debating the iPhone Duo. But that comparison is for another time.
iPhone 18 Pro review: Pros
- New colors are fantastic
- Design still looks great
- Variable aperture has lots of benefits
- Pro Controls are just what I’ve hoped for
- Battery life is excellent
- A20 Pro delivers exceptional performance gains
iPhone 18 Pro review: Cons
- I’ll miss the Cosmic Orange era
- Smaller Dynamic Island doesn’t make a big difference
- Camera Control doesn’t support Pro Controls
iPhone 18 Pro rating: 4.5 out of 5
Where to buy Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro
Deals on Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro are in effect now, with wireless carriers offering up to $1,200 off via bill credits.
Jump straight to the offers below or compare incentives in our iPhone 18 Pro Price Guide.
- Get up to $1,200 off the iPhone 18 Pro with any condition trade-in on an Experience Beyond plan at T-Mobile*
- Get an iPhone 18 Pro from $0/mo with eligible trade-in and plan at AT&T*
- Get up to $1,200 off via myPlan with a qualified trade-in at Verizon*
*Terms and conditions apply. Please see the wireless carrier’s site for details.
If you already have an iPhone 18 Pro and need a case to protect it, check out our roundup of the best iPhone 18 cases you can buy right now.