iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Variable aperture main camera and new A20 Pro, from RM5,499
It’s finally here: Apple has unveiled the brand new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Available in its new signature Burgundy colourway, it’s mostly an iterative evolution of the 17 Pro series, but there’s still key enhancements made to the cameras, processor and battery life.
Design-wise, we’re not getting a major change like what we saw in its predecessor. The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max keep the same design as before, with the large camera plateau on the upper section of the back panel, though we do get a smaller Dynamic Island now that can also show up to three live activities this time. No change to the screens though; the iPhone 18 Pro has the same 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max bumps it up to 6.9-inches.
At the heart of the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max is the A20 Pro system-on-chip, a 2nm chipset that Apple is calling the ‘fastest CPU in a smartphone’, with a six-core CPU comprising of two ‘supercores’ and four efficiency cores. Those ‘supercores’ are apparently desktop-class too that are 20% more powerful.
The 7-core GPU meanwhile offers 40% faster graphics performance, along with new neural accelerators that have 2x faster 8-bit FP8 performance. There’s also two Neural Engines now, for a total of 32 cores, as well as a 50% increase in memory bandwidth, the Apple N1 wireless networking chip for WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread support, along with an Apple C2 cellular modem.
Keeping all of that cool is an all new custom thermal design and packaging, inspired by their M-series processors. The new vapour chamber design meanwhile delivers ‘dramatically improved thermal performance’ and the best sustained performance on an iPhone ever.
Battery life gets a big new upgrade too, with Apple boasting that the iPhone 18 Pro will be able to offer the same battery life as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Specifically, you’ll be getting up to 36 hours of video playback on the 18 Pro and up to 45 hours on the 18 Pro Max, though for day-to-day usage the iPhone 18 Pro gets 24 hours of use per charge, and 30 hours of use on the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Improved fast charging meanwhile means you can get up to six hours of video playback with just five minutes of wired charging.
There’s also a lot about its AI features, because 2026 and what not. iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max is set to have their most advanced on-device model ever, powering features such as custom Siri Expressive Voices, more accurate system wide dictation, Siri mode in Camera, Notify Me for updates on websites, Shortcuts as well as AI image editing. Do note that some features will be limited behind iCloud+ plans though.
It’s in the cameras though that Apple spent the most time on at the Apple Event, with a new Pro camera system headlined by a 48MP Fusion main camera with variable aperture. They showed off the six-blade aperture with fins thinner than a human hair. Essentially, this means you can widen the aperture in low light conditions for more light, netting you better night shots. The 48MP ultrawide and telephoto as well as the 18MP front camera meanwhile are carried over from its predecessor.
There’s also ‘Pro Controls’ now, giving users fine control over your camera, such as manual aperture and shutter speed control, on both photos and videos. There’s also AI-powered smart focus tracking, new photographic styles as well as Apple Reference Image, which will can detect and tag AI-generated images.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at RM5,499, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at RM5,899, which means that the new iPhone 18 Pro lineup actually has the same starting price as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. You’ll be able to get it with up to 2TB of storage, while for colours other than the signature Burgundy, there’s also Glacier, Silver and Black colourways.
Read more of our articles below!
