iPhone 18 Pro Review
The iPhone 18 Pro is an interesting beast. It is the first time that a new iPhone lineup arrived without a base model at launch, making the Pro the most affordable entry point. It is the first Pro model to come with Siri AI: Apple’s reinvention of Siri as its central AI assistant. In this sense, the 18 Pro is a phone of firsts and an exciting evolution; despite being very similar to its predecessor in other ways.
Specifications
• Release date – 18th September 2026
• Dimensions – 150 x 71.9 x 8.75mm
• Weight – 211g
• OS – iOS 27
• Display – 6.3” Super Retina XDR, 120Hz refresh rate
• Resolution – 2622 x 1206
• Processor – A20 Pro
• RAM – 12GB
• Storage – 256GB; 512GB; 1TB; 2TB
• Rear cameras – 48MP Fusion main; 48MP ultrawide; 48MP telephoto
• Front camera – 18MP
• Battery – Up to 34 hours video playback
• Water & dust resistance – IP68
When did the iPhone 18 Pro release?
The iPhone 18 Pro was announced on the 9th September 2026, with a release date of 18th September 2026.
Design
Despite all its improvements under the hood, the 18 Pro is a dead ringer for the 17 Pro. It maintains the two-tone design that was introduced on the 17 Pro, but you’re getting two new colour schemes: Burgundy and Glacier. The former is particularly striking and serves as a nice counter to the 17 Pro’s Cosmic Orange palette.
We were quite surprised when Apple decided to switch from titanium to aluminium for the 17 Pro’s body, given titanium’s reputation for being stronger and more durable. At the time we surmised this to be a production cost decision, therefore it’s not as surprising to see Apple sticking with aluminium for the 18 Pro. It’s probably a wise choice from a weight perspective, too, as the 18 Pro is heavier than the 17 Pro and 16 Pro; using titanium would have likely exacerbated its weight even more.
Display
The 18 Pro’s display is another area where Apple largely stayed the course. The 6.3” Super Retina XDR screen is pretty much identical to the 17 Pro’s offering, sporting a 2622 x 1206 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits when outdoors.
One difference that we appreciated was the larger Dynamic Island. The 18 Pro can display more information in this feature compared to previous iterations, and we found ourselves using the Dynamic Island more frequently as a result.
Performance & software
This is where the 18 Pro impressed us the most, with Apple clearly going all-out to market the 18 Pro as a landmark software evolution for iPhone. After going hands-on, we largely agree that they nailed it, even if the focus on AI won’t be for everyone.
At the centre of everything is the improved A20 Pro CPU, which offers up to 40% faster performance according to Apple’s own marketing. When modern smartphones are already fast at processing a wide variety of tasks, we are in the territory of diminishing returns and there’s not much of a tangible difference. However, there’s no doubt that the 18 Pro is indeed faster than the 17 Pro, especially in the realm of AI.
On the topic of AI, it’s very much at the heart of the 18 Pro’s identity. As we touched on previously, this heavy focus on AI might put off those who wanted Apple to double-down in other areas instead, but we found Siri AI to be genuinely useful.
You read that right, too: Siri has been renamed to Siri AI. This is part of Apple’s major recalibration of the iPhone as an ‘intelligent hub’, bringing it closer to what you’d expect from Gemini on Android devices. After spending some time with the 18 Pro, we found that it excelled at pulling information across our various apps with a simple prompt like “find the photo where we visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa” or “add that song you just heard to my playlist”. Pixel and Galaxy phones have been doing this for a while, but it’s still great to see the iPhone offering similar assistance features. On top of that, these features run incredibly smoothly thanks to the A20 Pro CPU.
We also want to call out the new vapour chamber inside the iPhone 18 Pro. Apple state that this improved chamber offers 3x the surface area for greater heat dispersion, and our own testing indeed points to a cooler phone that performs better than any iPhone released previously.
Cameras
It’s no secret that the iPhone offers one of the best camera experiences on any smartphone, and the 18 Pro builds on this legacy with some really interesting additions. We particularly love the variable aperture in the Main camera that automatically adjusts lighting and depth of field, so you don’t have to mess around in the editing tools to get professional results. You can also pin your most-used tools in the Camera app, like shutter speed and brightness; a nice quality of life change.
If you like to change granular details in photos such as skin texture, Photographic Styles 3 includes several new tools that make this easy to achieve. There’s also a Spatial Reframing feature that leverages AI to reframe a photo if your subject isn’t centred in the image.
We weren’t expecting the 18 Pro to include this many new photography features, and videos also received a lot of love. You can now record time-lapse footage in 4K Dolby Vision and enhance regular videos with Cinematic Mode effects; no need to specifically use Cinematic Mode. Smart focus tracking helps you keep subjects in focus when filming a video or taking a photo.
When you add all of this up, it becomes clear that the 18 Pro is quite the improvement. It isn’t easy to iterate each year and provide meaningful additions, but there’s more going on under the hood than you might expect.
Battery
Most iPhone Pro models have seen some degree of battery life increase, and the 18 Pro is no different. You can expect up to 34 hours of video playback this time around; an improvement of ~3 hours compared to the 17 Pro.
Battery life has also been given a sizeable boost. With a 60W charger, it’s possible to reach 50% in ~15 minutes.
Final thoughts
Despite being aesthetically similar to preceding iPhones and carrying the same display, the iPhone 18 Pro is far more impressive when you unpack everything. The emphasis on Siri AI as a core pillar was executed well and a significant step forward in shaping iPhones as a must-have hub for everything you need. On top of that, you’re getting some really useful camera improvements and a faster battery, too.