iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max: Price, Release Date, Specs, and Everything You Need to Know

• Price: iPhone 18 Pro from $1,199, iPhone 18 Pro Max from $1,299, both with 256GB.
• Dates: pre-orders Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT. In stores Friday, September 18.
• Chip: A20 Pro is Apple's first 2nm chip, with a GPU rated up to 40% faster than A19 Pro.
• Camera: 48MP main camera with a variable aperture from f/1.48 to f/4.0, a first for iPhone.
• Battery: Apple rates up to 36 hours of video on the 18 Pro and 45 hours on the Pro Max.

Both phones start at 256GB and climb through 512GB and 1TB to a 2TB option, which matters if you shoot ProRes. Apple published only the starting prices, so check the configurator for upper tiers. The $100 step from Pro to Pro Max buys a bigger screen and more battery. Chip, cameras, and materials are identical.

• Saturday, September 12, 5 a.m. PT: pre-orders open through Apple and carriers.
• Monday, September 14: iOS 27 arrives as a free update for existing iPhones.
• Friday, September 18: in stores across 19 countries, including the United States.
• Friday, September 25: second wave reaches 20 more countries.
• Friday, October 23: the iPhone Duo follows, with its own pre-orders on October 16.

Order inside the first hour if you want a specific color and storage combination. The Pro Max and top storage tiers usually slip to later windows first. Save payment and trade in details in the Apple Store app ahead of time. Amazon lists new iPhones only after launch, usually as unlocked models.

Four finishes: Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy. The enclosure is aluminum made from 85% recycled material, with Ceramic Shield on the front. Aluminum takes color better than titanium, which is why Burgundy, the finish Apple leads its marketing with, reads as the richest of the four.

A smaller process node packs more transistors into the same space, which means more speed at the same power or the same speed at lower power. Apple also redesigned the cooling, aimed at long ProRes captures and extended gaming.

• GPU: 7 cores, rated up to 40% faster than the A19 Pro.
• Neural Engine: Dual 16-core, twice the AI compute of the A19 Pro.
• Memory bandwidth: up 50%, which helps the GPU and Neural Engine most.
• Modem: Apple C2 with 5G sub-6, mmWave in the US, and satellite connectivity.
• Radios: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread, second generation Ultra Wideband.

Both are Super Retina XDR OLED with ProMotion up to 120Hz and Always-On. Sharpness is identical, so the choice is size and weight alone. The Dynamic Island shrinks, and iOS 27 uses the space to show up to three Live Activities at once.

Every prior iPhone had a fixed aperture, so the phone chose depth of field for you. The 48MP Fusion Main at 24mm now steps through four stops. Wide open you get real optical blur. Stopped down you keep a group sharp and can drag the shutter in daylight.

• Ultra Wide: 48MP Fusion, 13mm, f/2.2, 120 degree field of view.
• Telephoto: 48MP tetraprism at 100mm (4x), f/2.8, with a 12MP 8x crop at 200mm.
• Front: 18MP Center Stage, f/1.9, with autofocus.
• Video: 4K Dolby Vision up to 120 fps, ProRes RAW, Cinematic effects after capture at 4K60.
• Pro controls: manual aperture, shutter speed, white balance, live histogram, and Apple Reference Image authenticity.

Apple's ratings are the largest generational jump in a while, on paper. Real world numbers will land lower, but the Max holds a consistent edge of roughly a quarter more life. Nothing fast ships in the box, so a 60W adapter is the first accessory to buy.

• 18 Pro: up to 24 h typical use, 36 h video, 33 h streamed video.
• 18 Pro Max: up to 30 h typical use, 45 h video, 40 h streamed video.
• Wired: 50% in about 15 minutes with a 60W adapter. USB 3 data at up to 10Gb/s.
• Wireless: MagSafe and Qi2 both up to 25W. 50% in about 30 minutes with a 35W adapter.

• Buy it if you own a 15 Pro or 16 Pro. Chip, telephoto, battery, and charging all stack up.
• Buy it if you shoot for a living. Variable aperture and 8x reach change what you can capture.
• Skip it if you own a 17 Pro. Same sizes, same design, and the A19 Pro is not slow.
• Skip it if you want the biggest screen. The Duo arrives October 23.
• Skip it if you want a cheaper new iPhone. The standard iPhone 18 is expected in spring 2027.

The 18 Pro keeps the 17 Pro footprint, so many makers label one case for both generations. The camera plateau is about 2mm thicker this year, and a 17 Pro case may not sit flush around it. Buy a case that names the 18 Pro. Apple's own lineup is below.

• Everything in one place: best iphone 18 pro accessories
• 18 Pro cases: best iphone 18 pro cases
• 18 Pro Max cases: best iphone 18 pro max cases
• 60W adapters and Qi2 pads: best chargers for iphone 18 pro
• Screen protectors for Ceramic Shield: best iphone 18 pro screen protectors