• Samsung is reportedly adding authentication chips to its Galaxy A Series of smartphones
• Security chips will help distinguish safe, genuine batteries from fake third-party replacements
• They also make the lithium recycling process a lot smoother

Samsung could be making quite a big change to certain Galaxy Phone models — the Korean tech giant is tipped to add security chips to batteries starting next year.

The report comes from The Elec, which says the new security-chipped batteries will roll out to roughly 50 million devices, starting with Samsung’s low-end and mid-range Galaxy A series (which make up the largest share of Samsung’s smartphone sales). It would mark the first time the company adds a layer of security to its phone batteries, but the company hasn’t confirmed anything yet.

According to the report, the chips will be manufactured using Samsung Electronics' 28-nanometer foundry process, using VIA PUF (physical unclonable function) technology to create unique identities for each one. It’s believed that analog devices in the US (ADI) and ICTK in South Korea will split the supply of authentication chips.

So what’s the reason behind this? Well, there are several, but the main purpose is to put an end to fake replacements destroying your devices.

If your smartphone battery is nearing the end of its life, it’s safer to get a new one by going through Samsung’s official repair services, so you know you’re getting a replacement from the company itself. However, some users find it more convenient and cost-effective to opt for a third-party replacement service, but the quality isn’t always guaranteed.

For one, these types of batteries aren’t always built to the standard of quality you get with ones manufactured by Samsung itself, which could pave the way for further battery issues and even lead to fires while charging or during use. So, these embedded authentication chips not only identify genuine Samsung batteries from dodgy ones, but could be the one and only component that prevents your home from being engulfed in flames.

Reinforcing quality and safety is a no-brainer, but there’s also a sustainability element to battery authentication chips. Using chips makes it a lot easier for repairers to review battery usage history, allowing them to customize the lithium recycling process based on the state of individual batteries, instead of recycling batteries with different characteristics using the same method.

If the reports are on the money, then Samsung's authentication chips should arrive roughly around the same time the new EU regulations come into force. As of February 2027, the EU will require phone makers to fit 'readily removable' batteries, but as Gagadget.com notes, there's also the EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542.

What this means is that as of February 2027, industrial and EV batteries must have digital battery passports for identification purposes. While this applies to vehicles and not smartphones (yet), it appears that Samsung is getting a head start, preparing itself for a potential change of law.

Unlike Apple, which started integrating authentication chips in 2018 with the launch of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, this would be the first time Samsung introduces a similar technology to its own smartphones, so it’s been a long time coming, to say the least.

As mentioned, Samsung hasn’t commented on anything yet, but we’ll update this story if and when we hear more.

• Samsung might not upgrade the RAM and storage amounts for the Galaxy S27 series
• This is likely due to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis driven by AI
• There's a chance that at least some models will use later UFS and DDR generations

If you were hoping the Samsung Galaxy S27 series would ship with more RAM or storage than the Samsung Galaxy S26 line then, well, you’re probably going to be disappointed, because the latest leak suggests there will be almost no changes on that front.

According to reputable South Korean leaker Lanzuk (via GSMArena), the Samsung Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27 Plus will both ship with 12GB of RAM paired with a choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. In the case of the Galaxy S27 Plus, that’s identical to its predecessor, and those configurations are also available with the standard Samsung Galaxy S26 — but that phone additionally comes in a 128GB capacity, which is absent here.

For the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, you’ll apparently get 12GB of RAM alongside 256GB or 512GB of storage, but then there’s also supposedly a 1TB model with 16GB of RAM. This likewise is identical to the configurations you can get the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra in.

Finally, the rumored new Samsung Galaxy S27 Pro will apparently be sold in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations, all with 12GB of RAM. So despite this supposedly being a more compact version of the Ultra, it apparently won’t match that phone’s 16GB of RAM in the top configuration.

The same source does at least claim that some phones in the S27 series might use LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.1 storage, both of which would be significantly faster than the RAM and storage used in the Galaxy S26 line, but if so it would likely just be the top storage tiers that do.

Another thing you can blame AI for

All of this means that at least on the RAM and storage front, the Samsung Galaxy S27 series might not be much of an upgrade on the Galaxy S26 line, especially if you’re not paying out for the top configurations.

But that’s not really a surprise, as this is likely thanks to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, fueled by demands from AI data centers. This is affecting most tech, with companies having to choose between limited RAM/storage upgrades — and sometimes downgrades, or higher prices… or both.

So the one upside of this is that if Samsung does keep the RAM and storage at current levels, that might help keep the price of the Galaxy S27 series under control. But with Qualcomm’s latest chipsets reportedly costing more than previous generations too, we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung’s next flagships still end up with higher price tags than the current ones.

• Vivo launched the flagship X500 series of phones, with three new models
• A new monitoring screen comes in the X500 Pro Max photographer's kit, or it can be purchased separately
• At launch, all the phones and accessories are China-only, with a wider rollout TBD

Vivo quietly launched a really neat accessory alongside its new flagship X500 series of phones — an ultra-slim and light Bluetooth monitoring touchscreen — and, having paired it with the new X500 Pro Max, I wish it were compatible with my phone.

The monitoring touchscreen, aka a selfie screen, mirrors your phone's camera app, complete with touchscreen control over key camera settings and subject tracking, and can be attached to the phone magnetically or used as a remote monitor within its Bluetooth range.

Why not just use your phone's selfie camera instead, you ask? Well, the quality of the rear-facing selfie camera is always inferior to the front-facing cameras, as are the camera settings available.

A selfie screen, on the other hand, unleashes the device's superior front cameras — in the case of the Vivo X500 Pro Max, a triple array including a 50MP main camera and a 200MP 3.5x telephoto camera.

We've seen this kind of selfie screen tech before; Insta360's Snap Selfie Screen comes to mind. However, it needs a cable to connect to a phone, it has an annoying protective cover that flaps around when the screen is in use, and the display is smaller and harder to see. The new Vivo accessory, however, is better and more sophisticated in every way.

The best mobile accessory for 2026 so far?

Vloggers should take note of Vivo's new selfie screen. For one, it can snap onto the device magnetically, or be used by hand, so long as a Bluetooth connection is possible. No cable needed.

Used as a remote monitor, you can position your phone somewhere, say, on a tripod, and then walk into the shot and see what your phone is seeing, no cameraperson needed. (Great for group photos as well, by the way.)

It's clearly a trend — the Insta360 Luna Ultra vlogging camera features a removable touchscreen and controller module (which also has a built-in mic), while DJI launched a remote controller with a screen for its Pocket 4 series.

Whether used remotely or attached magnetically, the Vivo selfie screen's 3.92-inch AMOLED display with 419 pixels per inch (PPI) is clear and crisp. It’s also super light and thin, measuring just 5.65mm thick and weighing 68g — you'll barely feel it on the phone.

It has a USB-C port for charging, plus three side buttons, including a recording button and one for adjusting the screen's brightness levels. Otherwise, that's it.

What's unclear at this stage is which devices are compatible with the monitoring screen, besides the Vivo X500 series, if any.

There’s one major drawback to using it with the Vivo X500 Pro Max — neither device is MagSafe, meaning you need a dedicated case for the phone and monitor for them to stick together!

Vivo sells a case (and the monitor) separately, or they're included in a photographer’s kit which also includes two teleconverter lenses. Meanwhile, the monitor is supplied with a magnetic MagSafe-style rubber case. Vivo says the monitor costs 699 Chinese Yuan (a price conversion is $105 / £78 approximately, though international pricing will be higher).

Compared to the other similar devices I've tried, I found the Vivo vlogging monitor lighter, has a clearer display, and I appreciated its wireless connectivity, with options for remote or MagSafe-styler setups.

If you ever shoot selfie content and wish you could more easily use your phone’s superior front camera, then a selfie screen is a great option, and Vivo looks like it has just made the best one. If it turns out to be compatible with your device, then it could be the best phone accessory you buy all year — I'll update this page once I know more about the availability and compatibility of the screen.

It’s no secret that, in the flagship phone conversation, Motorola has lost some of its standing in the face of the best iPhones and best Samsung phones — but the Lenovo-owned company is clearly determined to return to the big leagues.

Just four months after launching the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra-rivaling Motorola Razr Fold, Motorola has now unveiled the Motorola Signature 27, supposedly “the most advanced smartphone Motorola has ever created.”

And we can believe it, because the Signature 27 is one of the first two phones (alongside the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max) to be announced with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, which Qualcomm just announced at Snapdragon Summit 2026. That’s the same chipset as we’re expecting to power the rumored Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, which will likely be unveiled early next year.

The Signature 27 is a de facto successor to the original Motorola Signature, announced back in January, but it’s also the first Motorola flagship to adopt the company’s new numerical, year-based naming structure, reflecting Motorola’s desire to position the Signature 27 alongside the best Android phones of 2027.

And that, too, makes sense. The original Signature boasts impressive specs across the board, but its chipset — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 — is a step below the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which powers the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Oppo Find X9 Ultra, and other contemporaries.

In using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, the Signature 27 won’t be at the same power disadvantage as its predecessor. We don’t know the rest of the phone’s specs just yet, but for reference, the original Signature uses a 6.8-inch quad-curved AMOLED display, a 5,200mAh silicon-carbon battery, and three 50MP rear cameras.

A recent Signature 27 teaser did, however, reveal that the phone will come with at least a 200MP Sony sensor in a four-camera rear setup, which will inevitably see it competing with the best camera phones of next year.

We also know the Signature 27 will feature Bang & Olufsen-tuned audio, so it’ll presumably boast some impressive speaker credentials, and Motorola has confirmed the available color options, too: Pantone Capulet Olive and Pantone Coal Smoke. The latter features a woven texture, which Motorola says “reinforces strength, durability, and premium quality.”

The Motorola Signature 27 is expected to come to global markets later this year. Its price is unconfirmed, but given that the original Signature starts at £899.99 (roughly $1,210 / AU$1,800), it’s safe to expect a steeper figure for Motorola’s “most advanced smartphone ever.”

Qualcomm has announced not one, but two new flagship mobile chipsets at its annual Snapdragon Summit: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.

Succeeding last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, both chipsets have been designed to reduce reliance on RAM (no prizes for guessing why), and each will unlock advanced gaming and agentic AI capabilities for the next generation of flagship Android phones (including, we presume, the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra). But how, and why, do they differ?

I attended the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii to speak to Qualcomm's team about the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Here’s why the American silicon giant is launching two flagship chipsets this year — and why one of them is shipping with the ‘Extreme’ moniker.

Why are they different?

As Lekha Motiwala, Senior Director of Product Management at Qualcomm, told me: “Some OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] are trying to reach the pinnacle of technology, while others are trying to reach broader audiences. We want to give choice and flexibility to the OEMs.

“The 8 Elite Gen 6 is the next generation to the 8 Elite Gen 5. The 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is positioned above it as the top tier, to enable newer experiences like ultra[-level] gaming, professional video codec support, etc. — on the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, we are going beyond what we traditionally do [with our flagship chipsets], hence the tiering this year.”

“Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 delivers generational improvements across all key experiences, and is designed to power the core flagship tier,” added Ellie Fortin, Senior PR spokesperson at Qualcomm.

“The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 sits above Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 as our top-tier Elite platform, showcasing leadership in AI, gaming, and advanced platform technologies, and is designed to power the best, most aspirational devices. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 includes everything in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, plus additional capabilities and advanced AI features. They’re both on 2nm TSMC.”

How are they different?

As for what Qualcomm means by ‘everything’ in the above statement, let’s get technical. Both chipsets feature the newest version of the company’s Oryon CPU, comprising two prime cores up to 5GHz (that’s a world-first) and six performance cores up to 4GHz. This CPU also packs a 16MB Oryon Flex Cache, which Qualcomm says will allow mobile agents to run demanding workloads without slowing down.

Qualcomm’s re-tooled Hexagon NPU [neural processing unit] features a new Hexagon Element Accelerator that should speed up how quickly AI prompts are processed by your phone — regardless of which new chipset it’s running — while the NPU in the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 gets 50% more Large Shared Memory than the equivalent NPU in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Still with me? As for the new Adreno graphics unit, Qualcomm says it represents the “biggest generational leap yet,” and will deliver substantial gains in graphics performance and power efficiency for phones equipped with either the 8 Elite Gen 6 or 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. But the latter pulls further away from its sibling with something called Adreno Neural Fusion — a dedicated gaming rendering technology that uses AI to deliver enhanced graphics and longer play sessions in compatible titles like Honkai: Star Rail, Diablo Immortal, and War Thunder: Mobile.

Couple that with three AI-dedicated GPU cores, and the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 looks set to make the next best gaming phones more capable than ever: “We’re introducing Adreno Matrix cores, which are exclusive to the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6,” Motiwala explained to me. “They support the running of AI workloads within the graphics pipeline itself. Rendering becomes smarter, [you’ll get] super resolution, frame generation — many of these features can now be run within the graphics pipeline rather than moving to the NPU and other [parts of the chipset]. So now you’ll have much lower latency and much lower power consumption.”

And finally, both new chipsets feature the Qualcomm Spectra ISP for improved digital stabilization, color processing, and motion detection, but only phones equipped with the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 will support — or rather have the capability to support — Advanced Professional Video (APV) codecs and 8K 60fps video capture.

Initial impressions

In other words, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is likely to be the chipset of choice for Android phone manufacturers hoping to claim that their upcoming flagships offer the very best in AI features, performance efficiency, and image processing. But it remains to be seen whether the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo can actually make use of all this extra power.

In truth, even the current-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 provides more than enough juice for 99% of smartphone tasks, and so that’s almost certainly going to be true of the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (the clue is in the name) and indeed the lower-spec 8 Elite Gen 6, both of which are objectively more powerful than last’s year’s flagship chipset.

The key takeaway here is that Qualcomm is aware of the memory constraints affecting the technology industry, and has clearly worked hard to bring AI processing closer to the chipset with this year’s Snapdragon lineup. This should mean that, even if upcoming Android flagships arrive with lower RAM capacities than their predecessors (see the Google Pixel 11 Pro), their ability to process AI tasks won’t be negatively affected — if we take Qualcomm’s word for it, it’ll actually be improved.

Basically, it’s about doing more with less. Or maybe more with more, but not as much ‘more’ as we might’ve expected pre-RAM crisis.

Which phones will be supported?

Both the Motorola Signature 27 and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max are the first phones to be announced with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset. The Xiaomi 18 Pro, meanwhile, will use the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

We don’t have any other official information about which phones will use either chipset just yet, but here’s a list of rumored devices whose respective predecessors use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and could therefore ship with Qualcomm’s latest slices of Snapdragon silicon:

• Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy S27 Plus
• Samsung Galaxy S27
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 9 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 9
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 9
• Xiaomi 18 Ultra
• Xiaomi 18
• Oppo Find X10 Ultra
• Oppo Find X10 Pro Max
• Oppo Find X10
• Honor Magic 10 Pro
• Honor Magic V7
• RedMagic 12 Pro
• RedMagic 12S Pro

• The second iOS 27.2 developer beta has landed, and code points to several upcoming features
• These include an anti-snatching tool, so the phone locks itself if it detects a sharp grab or when disconnected from your Apple Watch
• There are changes hinted at for Shortcuts, Apple Music, and CarPlay Ultra too

The second iOS 27.2 developer beta has now landed, and while on the face of it this doesn’t look much different to the first beta, behind the scenes there’s quite a lot of new stuff to find.

Digging into the code, 9to5Mac has found more details of an anti-snatching feature that we’ve previously reported on. This as-yet-unannounced feature is apparently called ‘AutoLock’ internally at Apple, and is designed to lock your phone if a thief grabs it.

It sounds similar then to Android’s Theft Detection Lock, and the code in this beta suggests that it would use various signals to tell whether an iPhone has been stolen, such as a sharp acceleration (which could happen when a phone is first snatched), loss of connectivity to a paired Apple Watch, a paired Apple Watch being unreachable, prolonged loss of network activity, or the device remaining unlocked for a certain period of time.

Any of these things could trigger an iPhone to automatically lock itself, but there are also references to safeguards aimed at preventing false positives. These include things like successful biometric authentication, and certain innocent app activities that could otherwise be signs of theft.

Other hidden features

On top of this, as spotted by X user @itspdfu (via 9to5Mac) iOS 27.2 beta 2 also includes code for a new album release countdown in Apple Music, and for the ability to support actions from third-party apps in Shortcuts new ‘Describe a Shortcut’ tool. So you’ll be able to include third-party apps in shortcuts built using natural language, rather than having to use the old shortcut builder.

Finally, @aaronp613 has found evidence that CarPlay Ultra will soon offer a ‘Drive Mode Theme’, allowing you to change things like the gauge style and color. Though right now CarPlay Ultra is only available on Aston Martin vehicles, so this might be of limited usefulness.

Of course there’s the usual caveat with all this that while Apple is seemingly working on these features, we can’t be sure of if or when they’ll actually launch. But they all sound like worthwhile upgrades, so hopefully they will roll out — and soon.

• iOS users are seeing ‘ads’ for other Apple products on their iPhones
• The banners promote services like iCloud+, Apple Music and AppleCare+
• The messages often can’t be dismissed and stick around for weeks

If you were to ask iOS users how they felt about Apple’s decision to insert ads into Apple Maps, it would quickly become obvious that it was not a popular move. So when iPhone fans discovered that Apple has been inserting prompts for its own products into iOS, the reaction was predictably swift and furious.

The ‘ads’ in question appear in the Settings app in iOS. They can be found near the top of the iPhone’s display and promote several products to the user, including paid-for iCloud+ storage, free trials for services like Apple Music and Apple TV, and the AppleCare+ extended warranty.

Infuriatingly for iOS users, the only way to disable these promos is to either let them expire — which in many cases could take weeks or even months, leaving a persistent notification badge on the Settings app in the meantime — or pay for the service being offered. There is not always a “dismiss” button to shoo them away for good, and when there is, some people have reported that it doesn’t seem to work.

Many people have taken to social media to vent their frustrations with Apple’s actions. “I’m feeling like this is nearly on-par with the ens***ification that Microsoft introduced with Start menu ads,” said one aggravated user. “I wish Apple would just stop that crap,” stated another. Many other people have taken to Reddit to express their exasperation, suggesting that the discontent is widespread.

Some of these ads and offers — such as the one for Apple Music — appear after you’ve bought a new Apple product. With the company launching the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro range recently, it’s perhaps unsurprising that we’re seeing a sudden influx of posts flush with irritation and indignation.

Apple’s services push

On the face of it, Apple’s decision to include promotions like this in its operating system might seem like a strange one. After all, Apple has long positioned itself as a premium company where the user experience is paramount. From that viewpoint, repeatedly attempting to prod customers towards even more of the company’s products might seem cheap, even distasteful. And when you’ve just shelled out a record fee for an iPhone after Apple’s painful price rises, that can just feel like nickel and diming.

But Apple has been putting increasing emphasis on its services in recent years, of which products like iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV and AppleCare+ are all a part. With limited room for growth in the smartphone market, the company is turning to areas where it thinks it can make more progress.

And unfortunately for users, that means more ads like this on their devices. While they are far from the most obnoxious ads around, the fact that many cannot be dismissed is clearly rubbing users the wrong way — as is the fact that the promos even exist at all in an Apple product.

There is also the possibility that at least some of these adverts are appearing due to a bug. The iCloud+ one in particular has drawn comments from users who are already subscribed to iCloud+ and thus, one would think, should not need to see any ads like this. Time will tell how that plays out and whether Apple fixes this ‘bug’ or leaves the ads in place. If the latter transpires, it would suggest that they are not appearing erroneously.

With Apple’s services push showing no signs of slowing down and further ads supposedly planned for the likes of the firm’s Visual Intelligence system, don’t expect Apple to have a change of heart any time soon.

Honor is no stranger to smartphone innovations, with its clear embrace of silicon-carbon battery technology, high durability ratings, and even trying out some wild concepts with the Honor Robot Phone.

I recently tried the flagship Honor Magic 8 Pro and the mid-range Honor 600 Pro, and their spec sheets alone were immediately impressive: large silicon-carbon batteries with fast charging, ambitious camera hardware and IP68/IP69K durability ratings.

Importantly, both handsets deliver on the promise those specs make on paper. Their 7,100mAh and 7,000mAh batteries lasted more than two days under normal use, longer than any phone I’ve previously tested. The cameras were also impressive, particularly the Magic8 Pro’s 200MP 3.7x telephoto. Each phone’s chassis felt premium despite using plastic for the back, and both held up well during an informal tap-water test (although I admit that it’s hardly a controlled durability experiment).

Performance is strong, too, with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipsets (Gen 5 for the Magic 8 Pro and last year’s Gen 4 for the 600 Pro) powering both phones. Both handled multitasking and demanding games comfortably.

More importantly, both handsets are competitively priced, with the base 512GB Magic 8 Pro retailing for £1,099.99/AU$1,999 and the 600 Pro starting at £899.99/AU$1,499 for the same storage option (neither phone is officially available in the US).

On paper, both phones should have won me over. In practice, their strengths are overshadowed by how closely Honor borrows from Apple — particularly in MagicOS and the Honor 600 Pro’s camera design.

Homage or replica?

At first glance, it’s clear that MagicOS tries to replicate the iOS experience on Android. The quick-settings panel has a similar layout and design style to the iOS Control Center. System transitions, app opening animations and even scrolling felt like I was using an iPhone.

MagicOS also has the Android app drawer disabled by default, with all apps displayed across multiple home screen pages, similar to how iOS organized apps before introducing the App Library in iOS 14. Admittedly the default theme is not a carbon copy of iOS, but details such as the clock and wallpapers will feel unmistakably familiar to iPhone users.

Even the initial setup uses a cursive “Hello” animation reminiscent of Apple’s, with “MagicOS” placed above it.

Both Honor handsets have an “AI button” on the bottom-right corner that looks and behaves much like the iPhone’s Camera Control button. It launches AI features, but a double press opens the camera; in the camera app, it works as a shutter release and adjusts zoom when swiped. The button is useful, but its most distinctive behavior is still borrowed from Apple.

Honor deserves credit here: Magic Capsule predates Apple’s Dynamic Island, launching in 2019 — three years ahead of the feature’s debut on the iPhone 14 Pro. My argument is not that every similar feature originated with Apple; it is that Honor’s overall design language repeatedly points in the same direction.

The Honor 600 Pro’s camera bump also recalls the iPhone 17 Pro, with a wide rectangular module and a similar three-camera arrangement. Even the orange finish on the 600 Pro felt like a close variation on Apple’s Cosmic Orange. The differences are there, but they do little to create a distinct visual identity.

Having used Android phones for years and recently having switched to an iPhone, I found these similarities less like an homage and more a lack of confidence. Honor has made enough changes to distinguish the features technically, but not enough to give them a clear identity of their own.

Our reviewers have acknowledged these similarities too, noting in the our Honor Magic 8 Pro review that its AI button worked similarly to the iPhone Camera Control button, while our Honor 600 Pro review says it “clearly (and some might say shamelessly) influenced by the iPhone 17 Pro”, and MagicOS was “just a little too in thrall to Apple’s work”.

What should Honor do differently?

Complaints aside, both the Honor Magic 8 Pro and 600 Pro are otherwise brilliant handsets that could’ve stood out as great alternative Android phones for very competitive prices. The specs alone give them a credible advantage in areas such as battery life and durability, particularly at these prices. But instead, Honor’s phones come across as imitators, which is a shame considering its handsets have plenty to offer.

It’s not like Honor is a stranger to innovation, either. In fact, the brand has had some creative designs like the Honor V Purse foldable and the aforementioned Robot Phone, which have moved from concept to full commercial release (though have only been sold in China so far). That makes the imitation more frustrating: Honor has already shown that it can design products with a personality of their own.

With software, brands like Nothing have shown that it’s possible to provide a fresh spin on Android, and maybe Honor could take a similar route too.

Honor already has what it needs to make compelling alternatives: exceptional battery life, ambitious cameras, strong durability and competitive prices. What it needs now is the confidence to make those phones look and feel like Honor products. Until then, its best hardware will remain overshadowed by the question of whose path it is following.

• The iPhone 18 Pro Max uses software artificially reduce its battery capacity to avoid shipping restrictions
• The same software trick will need to be used when shipping the phone off to repair or sell it
• Other phones might start taking this same approach

The iPhone 18 Pro Max has the highest capacity battery that Apple has ever put in a handset. Going by teardowns, you’re getting a 5,567mAh battery in eSIM-only models and a 5,391mAh one in versions with a physical SIM card slot. But both of those are over 20 watt-hours (Wh), and that could have been a problem for Apple.

You see, most countries have additional shipping requirements for devices with a single-cell battery of over 20 Wh. For example, both the US and UK consider these ‘dangerous goods’, and they’re prohibited to be sent through standard consumer mail services such as USPS standard post and Royal Mail.

That’s obviously a problem for a device that many people will be ordering online — and it can also complicate shipping the device to stores. But Apple has come up with a clever solution called ‘Prepare to Ship’.

This is a mode that uses battery firmware to limit the capacity to under 20Wh, and it's active from when the phone is manufactured to when a customer first activates it.

Once you have the phone up and running, the limit is removed automatically — so in other words this gets it around the shipping restrictions, without limiting the capacity of the product you receive.

However, this also adds an extra step you need to take before shipping the phone somewhere yourself — whether you’re sending it off for repair, selling it, or whatever else, as you need to manually enable the ‘Prepare to Ship’ mode again.

How to prepare your phone for shipping

To do this, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Prepare to Ship. Then just follow the onscreen instructions, including selecting whether or not you also want to erase your phone.

There are a few things to be aware of though: to activate ‘Prepare to Ship’ mode, your phone might need to discharge a bit, so you should unplug it from its charger, and you should also be aware that it might become warmer than usual while this process is being carried out.

The full process can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much the battery needs to drop, but you can use the phone as usual in the meantime (assuming you haven’t also opted to erase it), and the Settings app will display a red badge reading ‘Ready to Ship’ once it’s done.

If you have erased it, then you’ll instead see whether it’s ready to ship on the ‘Hello’ screen — just tap the info button there.

Once ‘Prepare to Ship’ has been enabled, it limits the battery to under 80% capacity for 14 days, but if you need to undo this setting prior to that, just head to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Ready to Ship, and tap ‘Undo Shipping Preparation.’

This might become the new normal

So it’s a simple enough process, but it’s one that’s vital to know about when it comes time to sell or repair your phone — so hopefully there will be enough messaging around it.

But while for now this only affects the iPhone 18 Pro Max, it could one day become the norm. Certainly, we’d expect future large iPhones to have this same feature, but Android phones are likely to get in on the act too, since it's a very elegant solution to the problem.

Currently, some Android phones get around 20Wh restrictions by using multiple smaller battery cells, but depending on the design of the phone it might be preferable to just have a single cell — in which case a solution like Apple’s firmware trickery makes total sense.

This is one of those situations where we don't think there's any shame in borrowing ideas from other manufacturers.

• Vivo reveals its new flagship X500 series of phones, with three new models
• The X500 Pro Max is the priciest model, succeeding the X300 Ultra
• They're only available in China at launch, with wider availability coming later

It's no longer a secret that some of the best camera phones are coming out of China, and Vivo is very much competing with Oppo and Xiaomi with its flagship 'X' series — it has just revealed the latest crop; the X500, X500 Pro and X500 Pro Max.

I'm at the launch event in Shanghai, China, and have already had 24 hours with the Vivo X500 Pro Max, which effectively replaces last year's X300 Ultra. Like the previous flagship, it features a triple front camera array comprising ultra-wide, main, and telephoto Zeiss optics, only this time, the main lens has a 24mm focal length, like most other flagship wide cameras (whereas the X300 Ultra stood out with a tighter 35mm main camera lens).

The 3.5x telephoto lens has an 85mm equivalent focal length — a well-loved focal length by portrait photographers — and a mode which unleashes a 200MP resolution, while the 50MP boosted resolution is available for the ultra-wide and main cameras.

I'll be bringing you an in-depth camera comparison soon with the Vivo X500 Pro Max, Vivo X300 Ultra, and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra (a top camera phone from last year) soon, plus more details on the former. In the meantime, I've included some of my favorite photos that I've taken with the X500 Pro Max already, so you can begin to see what it's capable of.

The X500 series was announced on September 21 and, at launch, is exclusive to China, with a wider rollout expected later, although it's unlikely to come to the US. With the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra, both now available in the UK, I'll be keeping an eye out for Vivo's release plans with the X500 models.

Vivo X500 Pro Max sample gallery

• Look out for the small blue 'hello' signs in Apple Stores
• They're to help test the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max cameras
• The new phones are now available to purchase in retail stores

The next time you head into an Apple Store, you should be able to spot a small blue 'hello' sign somewhere, as per reports on social media — and the appearance of these little signs is apparently connected to the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

As per MacRumors, the signs are there to help customers test out the optical zoom capabilities of the new handsets. Both models offer up to 8x optical zoom, so having something specific to zoom in on is going to be helpful.

While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max have a variable aperture feature on one of their three rear cameras now, the optical zoom capabilities are actually the same as the iPhone 17 equivalents that launched in September of last year.

There are also new Pro controls on the latest handsets, so settings for lens aperture, shutter speed, and white balance can be tweaked shot by shot — something else you might want to test out in an Apple Store.

Now available

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max arrived in Apple's retail stores on Friday, September 18, six days after preorders started. Prices for the handsets start at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099 and $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,299 respectively (for 256GB of storage).

New Apple CEO John Ternus made an appearance at the Apple Store in New York to help celebrate the wider availability of the flagship iPhones — as well as the Apple Watch Series 12, the Apple Watch Ultra 4, and the AirPods 5.

He didn't mention anything about the new 'hello' signs in stores, but they've been spotted by customers nevertheless. They look to be located on higher shelves and fixtures, perhaps to put off anyone wanting one as a souvenir.

And if you're wondering where the iPhone 18 is and when you'll be able to test that out, don't panic — it's rumored to be showing up around March time, alongside the iPhone 18e and the iPhone Air 2.

In the midst of hype for Apple’s new A20 Pro chipset and slick foldable software, the company’s durability department is quietly having a moment.

Its Ceramic Shield 2 display glass — first introduced on the iPhone 17 line and returning this year on the iPhone 18 Pro — is earning plaudits for delivering on the promise of 3x better scratch resistance 12 months on from its release, while the iPhone Duo is set to arrive next month with a host of impressive durability credentials (including, notably, a Galaxy Z Fold 8-beating IP68 resistance rating).

But while features like ingress protection and corrosion resistance aren’t the sexiest topics of discussion at Apple Park, they are some of the most important for ensuring Apple’s products stand the test of time — and Tom Marieb, the company’s new Vice President of Hardware Engineering (a role formerly occupied by CEO John Ternus), knows that better than most.

I had the chance to quiz Marieb on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo in a group interview at Apple’s London HQ, and he lifted the lid on how Ceramic Shield 2 — which we described as “the first iPhone glass we fully trust” earlier this year — managed to deliver such a noticeable jump in quality versus the original Ceramic Shield, and why he’s “especially proud” of the iPhone Duo’s hinge durability.

“Personally, when I see someone put a screen protector on their iPhone, it makes my skin crawl, because we work so hard to make beautiful front screens,” Marieb told me. “So we very much wanted to develop new coatings that could withstand [scratches], but also make sure that these coatings were wear-resistant as well. We worry about scratching, which is obviously very dependent on having [material that can withstand] very sharp things going into the screen. But we also worry about wear over time; as people use the screen, whether they’ll wear away that surface. And it turns out that those things are a little counterindicated in a lot of materials.

“So we had to try to optimize both of those [qualities] simultaneously [...] And I think we finally hit on a nice balance between the two [in Ceramic Shield 2]. We could have made it more scratch-resistant, but it would have been a little less wear-resistant. It’s the long life we’re looking for against both of those loads over time.”

Marieb added that, in testing Ceramic Shield 2, Apple accounted for half a decade’s worth of use in a comparatively minuscule testing period: “We very much try to meet the customer where they live, and so we don't design tests that measure old military specs or old standards; we try to say, ‘How are customers actually using this? What exactly are they exposing it to in the real world?’ And we make tests that mimic those things.

“And as you said, people waiting a year or two to actually see the benefits of [Ceramic Shield 2] means we've correctly predicted how people would use it. We accelerate time to try to compress those things into the engineering cycle, so that we can feed back as we try one thing after another, and can represent five years of life — or even more — within a couple of weeks of testing.”

It all hinges on the hinge

The display is the most important part of any iPhone, but the foldable iPhone Duo saw Apple tasked with protecting a new, equally crucial component: the hinge.

Like any foldable, the Duo can be used open or closed, and Apple has also developed dedicated ‘Seated’ or ‘Standing’ modes that will see the Duo bent at various angles for extended periods. The former displays visual content on the top half of the screen and viewing controls on the bottom (picture a Game Boy Advance), while the latter turns the Duo into a bedside clock, photo gallery, or weather screen via StandBy.

Whichever orientation you choose, the Duo remains fixed in place — but the work to make that happen wasn’t easy.

“I'm glad you hit on this, because this is something I'm especially proud of, and it took us a long time [to crack],” Marieb explained. “What we worry about with this device is that people see how thin it is and they think it's fragile. People seem to be worried about the Air, too, but it's honestly one of the most reliable phones we’ve ever made. And so we thought, ‘How do we design a hinge that feels very solid when you close it, but also really solid when you open it?’

“We really worked on the torque profile very heavily, and that means changing a lot of the mechanical properties of the hinge to have it feel solid, like a high-end automobile's car door, when you shut it. That was design intent, so people would have a feeling like, ‘Oh, it's okay. This is well crafted, and it's safe for me to use and not worry about it.’

And then, as you said, we have a lot of use cases where the Duo is [in a half-folded state]. And so we also had to think, ‘Can people interact with this [device] and not have it feel floppy?’ So getting those torque profiles right at both those ends, as well as in the middle — not having it feel like you're pulling something open, and not feeling as if it's floppy — we spent a lot of time optimizing that. So thank you for noticing, because a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into that.”

The dual benefits of nano texture

On top (literally) of the iPhone Duo’s hinge, Apple has equipped its first foldable phone with a 7.6‑inch nano‑texture display. This new material isn’t a million miles away from the anti-reflective nano-texture glass that can be added to the best MacBooks, though, of course, the Duo version of said glass needs to bend in half.

Another journalist in my group interview with Marieb noted that foldable creases typically appear minimal out of the box, but become more prominent mere months after being used extensively. In response, the Apple executive was bullish on the longevity of the Duo’s hinge and explained that the nano‑texture display should help maintain its obscurity:

“Hold us accountable to that, please […] The choice of a matte finish — apart from it being beautiful — is part of that equation. When you look at glossy displays, their specularity makes it very easy to pick up topology differences. That’s part of the reason we picked the matte finish — it’s not only beautiful in terms of preventing glare, but it’s also more forgiving of [topology] changes over time.”

Apple, then, is supremely confident in the durability credentials of its first foldable phone — and we look forward to putting the iPhone Duo through its paces ahead of its official launch on October 23. For our full verdict on Apple's latest candybar handsets, check out our iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review.

"Feel the vibe here, that's what I love," said Harry Sung as he stood in the middle of a buzzing Apple Fifth Ave flagship store. Moments earlier, Sung picked up the first burgundy iPhone 18 Pro Max of the day after being ushered into the glass edifice by none other than new Apple CEO John Ternus.

It was a big day for Sung, who scored his second year in a row as the first Apple customer on iPhone launch day, and an even bigger day for Ternus, who was hosting his first iPhone launch store event as CEO.

It's been a whirlwind few weeks for Ternus, who officially took over for former CEO Tim Cook (new Executive Chairman) on September 1 and, a week later, was on stage unveiling the iPhone 18 Pro line, new AirPods, new Apple Watches, and the exciting foldable iPhone Duo.

On this day, that flexi-phone was nowhere in sight. Even so, the atmosphere was electric, and it felt, to those of us who've been attending iPhone store launch events for almost 20 years, like the old days.

When I caught up with Ternus inside the store, he told me the day was "exciting," and I could tell he was still a little amped up from the store opening ceremony.

At precisely 8am ET, Ternus appeared behind the frosted glass doors of Apple's Fifth Avenue flagship store and then swung open the doors. He stood for a time, waving to a cheering crowd, behind which was a small cluster of protesters shouting about, among other things, iPhone manufacturing working conditions. As the groundswell of excitement grew around Ternus, the protesters seemed to lose steam.

Ternus then turned to the long line of iPhone customers waiting outside the store, many of whom had pre-ordered the phone last week, and started greeting them. First up was Sung.

In his arm was a binder full of cards denoting the 120 Apple Stores he'd visited around the world. Sung later told me he had met Ternus once before at another product launch at Apple's "100th store" where he'd had Ternus sign the book. The inside cover also featured more than half a dozen other Apple executives' signatures (This is not surprising. In another part of the store, I witnessed Apple head of Retail Deirdre O'Brien signing someone's MacBook.)

Ternus posed with Sung outside the store and then turned his attention to the next customer.

After collecting his iPhone 18 Pro Max, Sung briefly appeared outside the store again and held his purchase aloft. The crowd cheered again.

Later, when I asked Sung, 21, how he secured his pole position, he told me that first he pre-ordered his burgundy 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max online (he never leases and always buys), and then he arrived at the store yesterday at 8:30pm ET — and waited.

I asked Sung, who is a native of China but is currently living in New Jersey and attending university, if he's ever owned an Android. He shook his head and then told me his first iPhone was the iPhone 15.

Why, though, does Sung visit all these stores, and why was he here right now? Sung looked at me like I had lobsters dancing on my head. "I love Apple," he told me, as if nothing could be more obvious.

• The FCC has granted Starlink Mobile the right to operate internationally
• This opens the door both to a roaming service for US customers and a Starlink Mobile service in other countries
• The company already has partnerships abroad, and previous reports suggested Starlink Mobile was planning to launch a rival to conventional carriers

Starlink Mobile is barely off the ground in the US yet, with its service primarily offered through the dead zone-filling T-Satellite service in partnership with T-Mobile. But we know the brand has bigger mobile ambitions — and it now seems they won’t be limited to the US.

Following reports that SpaceX was planning to build a Starlink-branded mobile network in the US, the company — as spotted by NotebookCheck — has now received approval from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to offer international telecommunications services.

This, at a minimum, could allow Starlink Mobile to offer those dead zone-filling capabilities to US customers when they’re roaming abroad, but it also opens the door to Starlink Mobile services being offered directly to residents of other countries, rather than them only being available through partnerships with other networks.

And we know Starlink plans to level up its mobile service, with 5G-level capabilities and download speeds of up to 150Mbps, all beamed from satellites in space.

Those capabilities, coupled with its existing ability to deliver coverage where conventional mobile networks struggle, could make it either a major boon to carriers it partners with or a significant rival if SpaceX sets up a standalone alternative to the likes of T-Mobile and Verizon.

Starlink mobile services are already rolling out in numerous countries

Any rival service is probably still a way off, especially as the company might need to build some more traditional network infrastructure to compete with conventional carriers in densely populated areas.

But SpaceX is already starting to partner with carriers globally. For example, it recently announced a partnership with Japanese telecommunications company KDDI to offer “Starlink Mobile V2,” which will apparently offer “100x the data density, and will enable native calls, high-speed apps, streaming and more.”

And with this FCC green light, we might one day see Starlink Mobile services offered directly to customers both in the US and abroad, rather than through partnerships alone.

• Ugreen has announced an iPhone 18 Pro case with an E Ink screen on it
• Rather than being an ereader, it's designed for displaying photos
• Pricing and availability are still to be confirmed

I’m a big fan of tech innovation, so when a phone case that provides a second screen for the back of your device gets announced, I pay attention. And while that in itself isn’t a totally new concept, the new Ugreen Magic E Ink Screen Case takes a different approach from most.

While second screens designed for the back of phones are usually focused either on ebooks or — if they’re more tightly integrated into the phone’s operating system — widgets, this one, announced on Ugreen's Weibo feed, is designed simply to show photos.

It’s a nice idea, delivering both the protection of a case — in both iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max sizes — and the ability to sync photos to the color E Ink screen built into it. But it also sounds quite limited compared to some e-paper accessories.

E-paper is still best for reading

I’m thinking primarily of the Xteink line, and in particular the Xteink X4 Pro, which is currently stuck to the back of my iPhone. With this, I can read ebooks on an eye-friendly display, and while it doesn’t show color and wouldn’t be great for photos, I’m not convinced the Ugreen Magic E Ink Screen Case will excel at this either.

Images and especially color on e-paper screens tend to leave something to be desired, even on high-end products like the Kindle Colorsoft, which delivers quite muted shades. And we’ve seen image-focused e-paper accessories before, like the VidaBay E Ink fridge magnets, which in my opinion display most images quite poorly.

Still, you never know; the Ugreen Magic E Ink Screen Case might surprise me, and if the price is right, it could be more appealing to some buyers than an ordinary case anyway. The price, though, is still unconfirmed, as is availability, with this product so far only announced for China. So it remains to be seen whether you’ll even be able to buy it.

• Samsung Display unveils new 'M16' OLED phone screen tech that can hit 10,000 nits of brightness in small areas
• The more useful news is that it can be 30% more efficient than its previous-gen M14 OLED tech
• It's appearing first in the Vivo iQOO 16 phone, in China

Samsung Display has unveiled the first OLED panel to deliver 10,000 nits of peak brightness, and it's already coming in a phone.

The new 'M16' OLED display is capable of 10,000 nits in 1% of the window, although in full screen it puts out a less searingly bright (but massively impressive) 2,800 nits. These numbers put it in the region of micro-LED tech, and way beyond anything we've seen for OLED so far.

Of course, brightness is all well and good, though few people are probably begging for their phone to be as bright as a full sunny day. What's arguably more exciting is that the panel is Samsung's second-generation polarizer-free OLED, which enables it to deliver significantly improved energy efficiency and brightness — the claim is a 30% improvement in efficiency.

This means that even if you view it more like the 1,000 nits of most elite phones, you're saving way more battery — and since the display is one of the biggest battery hogs in phones (or the best smartwatches, where the tech would also be really useful), that could make a real difference to phone longevity.

The M-series panels are made for smartphones and other mobile devices, but the advances in OLED material here may make their way into the best OLED TVs too, at least partly.

Where to see Samsung Display's new ultra-bright OLED

According to industry site FlatpanelsHD, Samsung Display will be providing the M16 OLEDs to Vivo for its iQOO 16 gaming phone.

Previous reports also suggest that Apple is using the M16 in its iPhone 18 Pro, as Apple has previously used even-numbered M-series OLEDs in its iPhones. My colleague Matt Bolton highlighted the longer battery life in the iPhone 8 Pro as one of its, uh, highlights — noting that battery improvements usually come from multiple elements combining, so it would makes sense if this new display is one of those elements.

For TV buyers, the most significant thing here is how fast OLED tech is evolving. Samsung announced its first 5,000 nit OLED in March 2025, and it's doubled the brightness and massively increased the energy efficiency in just over a year.

It'll be some time before these more efficient displays make their way to monitors and TVs (monitors might come sooner), and there are currently trade-offs involved — the lack of a polarizer can mean less defined contrast and black levels, which may be Apple is adding other anti-reflective tech to its displays — but clearly, any so-called OLED killers can't be complacent when OLED is evolving at such a speed.

• Google Translate now has an offline mode for Live Translations
• This only works between English and ten other languages
• It also only works on Pixel 11, Pixel 10, and Pixel 9 series phones

Live Translate is a feature that has the potential to break down language barriers, by letting you speak to someone in your native language and have it automatically translated to theirs. But while this Google Translate feature is undoubtedly useful, it’s also so far been held back a bit by a need for an internet connection. That though, is now changing.

As spotted by Android Authority, Google has started rolling out an offline mode for Live Translate, which could be hugely beneficial, since this feature will probably mostly be used when abroad, where data costs can be higher, and network connectivity can potentially be less reliable.

But even if you’re traveling somewhere that has widespread mobile coverage and affordable pricing, it’s still reassuring to know an internet connection won’t be required to effectively communicate with the locals.

Limited languages and phones

Of course, there are some restrictions here. First, offline Live Translate currently only works between English and French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, and Swedish. So that leaves out a lot of languages, and also means that English has to be one of the two languages being spoken — you can’t for example get offline live translations between French and German.

The other major limiting factor is that for now at least, offline Live Translate is only coming to the Google Pixel 11 series, Pixel 10 line, and Pixel 9 series. So if you have an older Pixel or a phone from another brand, you’re currently out of luck.

All of which means that the vast majority of people won’t be able to benefit from this, so hopefully it’s a temporary restriction.

Then again, iOS already has a Live Translation feature of its own which can be used offline, and Samsung Galaxy phones also have a similar feature with offline functionality, so there are other options from the biggest rival brands.

Still, Google’s Live Translate feature isn’t exclusive to Pixels, so it would be nice to see this offline upgrade make it to other phones too.

It's time for TechRadar's annual tech awards, and this year we're doing it differently. For the first time, we have a complete set of categories where the winners are chosen 100% by you, the TechRadar readers.

The TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards 2026 comprises nearly 100 categories, but we know that not everyone is interested in voting in every one, so on this page you can vote in just our Phones and Cameras categories.

These include tablets, ereaders, drones and more, as well as various phones and cameras awards. You can vote in the survey just below — or follow the links to see other specific categories, or to vote on the full list instead.

The shortlists were chosen by TechRadar's editors based on the best products we've tested or the most popular products of the year. You'll need to vote before 00:01am PST / 03:01am EST / 08:01am BST on Wednesday October 7th 2026 for it to be counted.

• All categories
• Computing & Gaming
• TV & Audio
• Fitness & Home Tech

Once the deadline has passed at 00:01am PST / 03:01am EST / 08:01am BST on Wednesday October 7th 2026, we'll tally your votes to find the winners in each category.

We'll announce the winners in our big TechRadar Awards 2026 Week, starting Monday October 19th. We'll reveal the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards, as well as the winners of our TechRadar Product of the Year Awards, which are chosen solely by our expert judges.

How many products will do the double? We'll be curious to see — but right now, all you can do is vote for what you think should win, so vote away!

• We've put the batteries in Apple's newest iPhones to the test
• There are upgrades here, but not huge ones
• Apple has been touting major boosts in battery life on these handsets

Sift through the press releases that Apple pushed out while announcing the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, and you'll see some big battery life increases touted — including "the largest increase in battery life ever" on an iPhone with the Pro Max model (compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max).

We know that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max come with 4,056 mAh and 5,391 mAh capacity batteries respectively (at least in Europe), but does that translate into much better battery life? We put both of these new handsets through their paces in the TechRadar labs (as part of our full iPhone 18 Pro review) to see if Apple's claims held up under some real-world testing.

Our standard test involves having the iPhone automatically cycle through a series of websites over a cellular connection, until the battery dies. Features like location services, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth are all turned off while the test is being run, and the battery management features in iOS are disabled too.

The iPhone 18 Pro managed 16 hours and 17 minutes in the test, compared to 15 hours and 21 minutes on the iPhone 17 Pro, a boost of around 6% overall. The iPhone 18 Pro Max managed 18 hours and 27 minutes compared to 17 hours and 54 minutes on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, an increase of roughly 3% in total.

Those increases are of course welcome, but perhaps aren't quite as impressive as Apple is making out, though there are a lot of different variables (like screen brightness) involved. Apple's own figures usually make use of video playback time — as in how long a single battery charge lasts when you've watching a video.

For the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple quotes 33 hours and 39 hours respectively, while for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max those numbers go up to 36 hours (a 9% increase) and 45 hours (a 15% increase). That last jump is indeed significant, but may only apply in quite a narrow set of scenarios.

"All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors," explains Apple in the small print on its comparison page. "Actual results will vary. Batteries have limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings."

We can safely say that you should see better battery life on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max compared to the models that preceded them, but based on our own testing, don't expect the kind of improvements Apple is promising unless you're doing nothing but watching videos in long stretches between recharges.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max: Two-Minute Review

If the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max were a reinvention of the flagship iPhone, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max see Apple carrying the flagship-iPhone baton forward with few, if any, missteps.

I’ve spent the last week with a Glacier iPhone 18 Pro Max and a Burgundy iPhone 18 Pro — both colors are striking new additions to Apple’s iPhone color palette — and Apple has mostly stuck to last year's winning formula, while updating key aspects of the experience to push things forward.

While the main camera array still carries the same 48-megapixel count across the telephoto, ultra-wide, and main lenses, the arrival of Pro controls in the Camera app breathes new life into the photo-taking experience, letting you get seriously creative whenever you want to.

You can also take advantage of the new variable aperture on the main 48-megapixel Fusion camera to shoot across ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, or ƒ/4.0, and capture unique visuals, including starburst effects from lights. Of course, you can also choose to let the Camera app take control, and in general it’ll capture a well-balanced shot that you can still edit after the fact.

All in all, after taking hundreds of photos and shooting dozens of videos, I’m impressed with the level of detail the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max can deliver. Some images match what you’ll get from the previous-generation Pros, but these iPhones can also deliver even better-looking images and video, especially when you take control.

Under the hood is Apple’s first 2-nanometer chip in an iPhone, the A20 Pro, and while it doesn’t run laps around the previous A19 Pro, or the chip before that one, its CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine do an excellent job of handling general iOS tasks, as well as more advanced AI features, including keeping Siri AI chugging along where it's available and powering Apple Intelligence features in Photos, such as Clean Up and Reframing. It also ensures that third-party experiences run well, and I’ll be shocked if you encounter noticeable slowdowns anywhere.

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max can easily keep pace with any of the other best modern smartphones, and I suspect they’ll keep doing so for years. You can again choose between a punchy, vibrant, and crisp 6.3-inch or 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display, and that’s the main difference between the two Pro iPhones, as Apple maintains feature parity across the lineup.

Another meaningful improvement is in battery life, with the iPhone 18 Pro lasting longer than the 17 Pro Max according to Apple, while it says the 18 Pro Max establishes a new iPhone battery-life record. Add in the improved thermal management, smaller Dynamic Island, and arrival of Siri AI, and there’s a lot of refinement here beyond the cameras and processor.

And that’s ultimately what the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max feel like to me: a refinement of an already excellent Pro iPhone, rather than a reinvention. If the iPhone 17 Pro generation was about Apple changing the formula, the iPhone 18 Pro is about taking that formula and making it better across the board, without messing with what worked.

It’s not night and day across the board, and if you’re coming from an iPhone 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max, you probably don’t need to upgrade. The A20 Pro feels largely neck and neck with the A19 Pro in daily use, the displays remain familiar, and the overall design is essentially unchanged. But I would bet that some iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max owners will want to make the jump anyway, particularly for the camera improvements. The combination of the variable aperture and, finally, a genuinely customizable Camera app with Pro controls enables a level of user input that I’ve wanted Apple to bake into the iPhone for years.

If you’re holding onto an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or anything older, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max represent a much more substantial generational leap. You’re getting bigger and better displays, way-improved cameras, better battery life, a faster and more future-ready chip, improved thermals, and a modern, durable design that Apple has now had a year to refine.

And that’s the thing about the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max: you don’t need any one of these upgrades to completely reinvent how you use an iPhone. Taken together, though, they make for a seriously capable flagship that feels ready for the next several years.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Price and Availability

• Starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099 for 256GB
• Both Pro models now offer 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB options
• On sale September 18, with preorders open now

Apple made the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max official at its September 9, 2026, ‘Surprise and Shine’ special event; preorders are open now, with an on-sale date of September 18.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 in the US, £1,199 in the UK, and AU$2,099 in Australia, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,299, respectively. That means they come with a $100 / £100 / AU$100 increase in starting price over the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, while, like last year’s Pros, starting at 256GB of storage. Both can be configured with 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB of storage, with the latter now an option on both Pro models. You can choose from Burgundy, Glacier, Silver, and Black.

Both phones officially go on sale on September 18, 2026.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Design

• The 18 Pro keeps the 17 Pro’s aluminum body and camera plateau
• Burgundy and Glacier colors bring some welcome personality to the Pro lineup
• A new vapor chamber and Nanotwin copper help keep things cooler under load

With the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple chose to dramatically reinvent the Pro-series iPhone's design. It swapped the left-side bump that housed the main camera system for a plateau that stretches across the back, went back to aluminum, and focused heavily on durability.

Given that, the odds of a major redesign for the next-gen Pro phones were slim, and the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max stick with a design that not only scored well in our reviews, but also won over a wider audience. I've been switching between the iPhone 17 Pro Max in Cosmic Orange and the iPhone Air for the last year.

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max stick with the aluminum body and camera plateau from last year's models. That might seem like a safe choice, considering that the iPhone Duo is launching alongside these candy-bar-style phones in October, but it also shows Apple pushing forward with a working design — essentially the same trajectory it took from the iPhone 16 to the iPhone 17.

Still, to help the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max stand out from the crowd — and just to let people know you’re rocking one of Apple’s new phones, rather than a 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max — there are two entirely new colors, and I can't decide which is my favorite, and luckily I've been testing both. Burgundy is sort of a dark-red wine color that evokes a sense of high-class sleekness, while Glacier, which the event invite teased, is a mix of blue and silver that looks decidedly fresh. These are the two colors that pop, both much more muted than Cosmic Orange, but also a bit more vibrant than the Dark Navy from 2025. Those two join silver and the first ‘true’ black Pro model. It shows that Apple is listening, and I'm all for more Pro colors.

The dimensions are the same year over year. The iPhone 18 Pro measures 150 x 71.9 x 8.75mm, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max comes in at 163.4 x 78 x 8.75mm — exactly the same footprint as their predecessors. The button placement is also identical, so if you've spent the last year with an iPhone 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max, there's nothing new to learn here: power and Camera Control are on the right, with the Action Button, and volume up and volume down on the left. Both phones are a little heavier than last year’s: the 18 Pro weighs 211 grams, up from 206 grams, while the 18 Pro Max jumps to 249 grams from 233 grams.

Even with the slight weight increase, both the 6.3-inch Pro and 6.9-inch Pro Max feel comfortable in the hand and are pretty well balanced. The Pro Max is still very much a two-handed phone for me, especially for texting, while the Pro is still the smaller, more portable option.

Then there's Ceramic Shield 2, which is sticking around. Judging by the coatings on my iPhone Air and 17 Pro Max, it's done wonders at preventing micro-abrasions and front-screen scratches, and even means that drops don’t elicit a gasp, since after a year my screens are still unblemished. In my few days testing the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, I haven't seen a scratch on the front or abrasions on the back, which is both aluminum and glass.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was known for getting warm, or at least warmer to the touch, during more intense activities such as gaming or long content shoots, and Apple has looked to address that issue with some new cooling tech under the hood. There's a new thermal architecture inside, which consists of a vapor chamber, the positioning of which has been tweaked, and which offers three times the surface area to better dissipate heat. Apple has paired this with an industry-first Nanotwin copper material, which is baked into the display plate to help keep that surface cool.

For the most part, this has kept the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max cool during my testing. They can still get warm, but nowhere near as warm as the 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max, and the heat is more spread out when it does become noticeable. I noticed it mostly heating up during longer capture sessions, especially when swapping between photo and video, but even then the heat felt more spread out and better regulated, and dissipated more quickly.

It's a subtle change, but one that matters when you're using the phone heavily. And that's really the story of the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max design: Apple hasn't reinvented the wheel this year. Instead, it's taken the design it introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro and refined the parts that matter — durability, thermals, finishes, and how the phone feels during sustained use.

• Design score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Display

• Two sizes, same experience across both
• A new anti-reflective coating joins 3,000 nits peak brightness and120Hz ProMotion
• Smaller Dynamic Island with room for three Live Activities

Your main decision when choosing between the 18 Pro and the 18 Pro Max comes down to size, as there’s feature parity between the two, and that’s a good thing. The iPhone 18 Pro features a 6.3-inch display, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display. Both are punchy, vibrant, and a joy to look at and use for any task, be it FaceTiming with friends or loved ones, typing out comms, reading an email, browsing the web, scrolling your photos, watching video, or just navigating iOS elements.

Much of that comes from the fact that these are Super Retina XDR displays, which are OLED and always-on, meaning that even when the phone is locked, the screen dims down to still show you the time, widgets, and even notifications. Like the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max before them, the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max have a buttery-smooth 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate and top out at a maximum brightness of 3,000 nits. It’s unlikely the phone will always run at that brightness, but suffice to say that even on a bright, humid, sunny day — and I mean it was really beating down — in Orlando, Florida, enjoying the sights, sounds, and rides of Disney World, I had no issues viewing content on the screen.

There’s also a new anti-reflective coating on the display, and while this isn’t a full Nano-texture coating like you’ll find on some of Apple’s other displays and the folding iPhone Duo, it’s a noticeable step up when it comes to reducing reflections and smudges. It’s particularly useful outdoors, where fewer reflections mean less fighting with the screen to see what’s actually on it. Compared to older iPhones, like the iPhone 16 and earlier models, this feels like a much bigger display upgrade.

There is one thing that really did catch my eye, though, and it’s the key change with the display: Apple has shrunk the Dynamic Island down on the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. It’s about the size of an extra-strength Tylenol liquid gel, and much less of a distraction at the top, if you could even call it that. In addition to the reduced size, the other big change is to Live Activities — the Dynamic Island can now support three, rather than two. So maybe it’s directions, music playback, and a timer, or if you’re on a flight, maybe it’s United Airlines showing the seat number, Flighty counting down your arrival time, and music playing in Music or Spotify.

I’m not saying you need to rush out to upgrade just for this if you have a 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max — although that might be the case for the cameras or battery life — but if you’re a fan of using this space, it’s definitely a super-functional quality-of-life upgrade.

• Display score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Cameras

• Pro controls finally arrive to let you adjust aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and more.
• The 48MP Fusion main camera aperture is adjustable from ƒ/1.48 to ƒ/4.0
• Better detail, strong low-light performance, and excellent 4x and 8x zoom

Alright, buckle in, because while the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max still boasts 48-megapixel main, 48-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 48-megapixel telephoto camera — similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max setup — things are a bit different across the board, and especially in one specific area.

For starters, if you’ve been wanting Apple to bake more controls into the Camera app, your wish has been granted. There are now Pro controls that let you adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and white balance for the main camera, alongside a host of other tools, including improved Photographic Styles, with more granular controls, and the ability to bring up a histogram.

You can also customize which of these controls live at the top of your screen, in a similar fashion to designing your perfect home screen or Control Center. Changes to shutter speed and aperture are persistent if you have that enabled in Settings for preserving camera settings, but you can’t design exact presets with a specific aperture or shutter speed, although — hint, Apple — that would be a nice upgrade.

Photographic Styles are also getting more flexible. You can still pick from the expected presets, but Apple now gives you more granular control over things like texture, including adjustments specifically aimed at skin. Push it in the right direction, and you can get smoother, more glowy-looking portraits, though there are times when that comes at the expense of some detail, particularly in lower-light areas of the frame.

That’s where I think Apple’s approach makes sense: the default Auto processing generally aims to strike a balance between detail, exposure, color, and skin tones, so you don’t have to think about any of this. But if you want to get more creative, the tools are there — and you can still make adjustments after the fact, rather than having to nail everything before you hit the shutter button.

Here’s a look at the camera specs, right before the big change that has to do with the main lens:

• 48MP Fusion main with variable aperture of ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, or ƒ/4.0
• 48MP Fusion ultra-wide at ƒ/2.2
• 48MP Fusion telephoto at ƒ/2.8

With these, you can still shoot at 0.5x, 1x at 24mm, 28mm, or 35mm, 2x for a digital crop with optical-quality results, 4x (as a digital sensor crop), or an optical 8x, and stretch all the way up to 40x digital zoom.

The big change, though, is that the main lens — the one your iPhone is set to by default — has a variable aperture for the first time ever on an iPhone. With a fine eye, or another camera pointed at it, you can actually see the lens aperture adjusting, getting wider or narrower to let more or less light in. It also swaps the previous main aperture of ƒ/1.78 on 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, as the 18 Pro’ now offering ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0.

You can choose to ignore this new control, as well as the ability to adjust white balance or shutter speed, and let the iPhone and its image-processing pipeline automatically engage what it believes are the optimum settings to capture a great shot. And in my testing so far, it succeeds here, offering on-par quality with the iPhone 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max, but mostly punching above those phones with better details, more natural blurring and focus points, and excellent highlights.

The image-processing pipeline has also been updated. Performance still feels very much in line with what I’ve come to expect from an iPhone, but images are more detailed and sharper throughout, though at times they can pack a little more punch with colors thanks to some update on the image pipeline. Especially for 4x and 8x shots, I’ve found that these preserve more details generation over generation. It’s not a dramatic departure from the iPhone look, but there’s a clear refinement here in how the phone handles detail and brings a scene to life.

The 4x and 8x zoom continued to surprise me with how much detail they can deliver, namely with the former being a sensor crop and the latter being optical. Whether I’m picking out details around Disney World’s parks or zooming in on something far away, the results stay impressively detailed without looking like a processed digital crop.

The variable aperture gives the main camera more flexibility, especially when you want to control how much light comes in, or how much of a subject is separated from the background. The wider maximum aperture also helps make this excellent main camera even more versatile in lower-light scenarios, and because it’s the camera your iPhone defaults to, it’s likely the one you’ll navigate to first.

The Most Magical Place on Earth deserves the best camera on a phone on Earth, right? So I’ve done the bulk of my iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max camera testing around the Disney World parks in Orlando, and taken plenty of additional shots in New Jersey, California, and even up in the sky from the windows of planes. That means I’ve tested the cameras in just about every condition I could throw at them, from the beating Florida sun to nighttime attractions, indoor spaces, moving subjects, and everything in between.

I’ve been putting the low-light performance to the test around Disney World, too, including taking plenty of shots after the sun went down. Even in Auto mode, I found the iPhone 18 Pro could deliver detail-packed, appropriately lit shots in less time, with Night mode often requiring less time to capture a shot than on previous generations. This comes down to about one to three seconds, versus five to eight seconds for processing. And that means less waiting around for the camera to finish its exposure and, more importantly, less chance of a moving subject turning into a blurry mess. You can accomplish longer exposures if the iPhone detects it’s in a tripod as well.

When I wanted more control, though, I could jump in and adjust the shutter speed and aperture when shooting at 1x or 2x zoom, letting me decide how I wanted to capture the scene, rather than leaving it entirely up to the iPhone. If you’re willing to take the time to dive into the controls, you can really customize how the iPhone captures a scene, and get much more creative with your shots.

For instance, I shot the Magic of Disney Animation building at night at ƒ/1.48 and 1/30s, deliberately opening up the aperture and slowing the shutter to let in more light. The result is a detail-packed shot with rich colors and a dramatic nighttime look, as you can see above. It’s still an iPhone, so you can absolutely leave everything on Auto and get a great photo, but when you want to take more control, the tools are there to help you capture the shot you have in your mind’s eye.

The same Pro controls carry over to video, giving you more control over how you capture moving footage. There’s also a new auto-tracking feature, and I’ve found it particularly useful for fast-moving subjects.

I put it to the test at Disney World with Slinky Dog Dash, capturing the coaster as it came down the sloping track. The iPhone did a great job of keeping the front of the coaster in focus while the people blurred with the speed of the ride, and the lighting on the track moving alongside the vehicles stayed remarkably clear. The shot came out incredibly well, and it really shows what the iPhone can do with a fast-moving subject.

The 18-megapixel front-facing camera is essentially unchanged from last year, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the Center Stage camera still uses that clever square sensor, letting you rotate between portrait and landscape framing without physically turning the iPhone. Better yet, it will still automatically adjust to fit more people in the shot.

The cameras are easily the most exciting part of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, and as in years and generations past, it’s a big reason why folks go Pro. You get three capable shooters, and the ability to step back or step closer, depending on what you’re trying to capture. This year, Apple is giving you more control, and adding a genuinely neat upgrade to the main camera. The choice is ultimately yours: you can stick with Auto and still capture great shots, or make your mark with adjustments and shoot more intentionally.

Yes, third-party apps have offered many of these controls before, but having them baked right into the native Camera app can make a big impact, in my opinion. You don’t have to download another app or learn another interface to take advantage of them — they’re right there when you open the camera.

• Camera score: 5 / 5

Camera samples

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Software, Siri AI, and Apple Intelligence

• Siri AI is here, in beta, and works across apps and personal context
• It can use your current on-screen context to help answer questions
• It's a major step forward, but it still makes mistakes and has rough edges

The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max ran iOS 26 out of the box, and it's no surprise that iOS 27 is preloaded on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. It runs really well here, and the A20 Pro under the hood keeps things gliding along — more on that processor below.

Much of iOS 27 is about under-the-hood changes that speed things up, which is especially helpful for older phones, along with more ways to customize the Liquid Glass interface, including adjusting how much of that glass effect you want to see.

The real story, though, is that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max come with the new, AI-powered Siri out of the box, in beta, in specific regions. It’s available now in the United States, though you’ll need to join a waitlist, and it arrives alongside some new Apple Intelligence features.

For starters, Siri AI is much faster, and shows its work as it goes, which makes the experience feel more transparent. For instance, I’ve asked for details on my last flight and watched Siri AI dive into the right app — whether that’s Calendar, Flighty, United, or even Mail — to pull up the information I’m looking for. I’ve also used it to confirm my departure time, and ask how long it might take to get to the airport. It really does work, and it feels natural, and easy to get the hang of.

That doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Siri AI diving into some apps can cause mistakes, and at times it can pull up the wrong dataset or make the wrong assumption about what I’m asking for. But given how delayed this upgrade has been, and how limited the existing Siri has felt, overall it finally feels like Apple has delivered on the promise of a more capable assistant, while still putting privacy at the center as it works with your personal data and what’s on your device.

Siri AI can even be cued to see what’s on your screen, adding another layer of usefulness. Rather than having to explain everything you’re looking at, you can let Siri understand the context of what’s in front of you and go from there. It’s one of those features that sounds small on paper, but once you start using it, it feels like the direction Siri should have been heading in all along.

Apple Intelligence also brings a handful of other updates, including new ways to work with images, improvements to Photos and other apps, and more ways to put on-device intelligence to work. But Siri AI is easily the headline for me. After years of Siri feeling like an assistant that was increasingly behind the times, it finally feels like I’m actually talking to an AI assistant on an iPhone, rather than simply giving commands to a voice interface.

And while it’s still in beta, and there are clearly some kinks to work out, that’s an important distinction. Apple isn’t just talking about what Siri will be able to do anymore — on the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, I’m actually using it. It’s faster, more conversational, understands more context, and can work across the apps and information already on my phone.

For me, that makes iOS 27 feel less like a flashy annual software update, and more like the foundation for where Apple wants the iPhone to go next. The A20 Pro gives it the horsepower to keep everything moving, while Siri AI finally starts making good on the Apple Intelligence promise. And because it’s built into the iPhone, and designed around the information already on your device, it feels like a much more natural extension of how I already use my phone, rather than another AI chatbot I need to remember to open.

• Software score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Performance

• A20 Pro is seriously fast
• The biggest gains over the A19 Pro come in specific workloads and future headroom
• Improved thermal management helps keep the phone cooler under heavy use

It might be no surprise, but the A20 Pro chip inside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max is, as Apple claims, the fastest chip it’s put in an iPhone. And it’s actually more similar to an M-Series-powered SoC that Apple might opt for in a Mac than previous A-series chips.

With the A20 Pro, the SoC actually sits next to the DRAM, rather than having the memory stacked on top, as it has been in previous generations. It’s also built on a 2-nanometer process, just like the M6.

Inside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, the A20 Pro is broken up into a 6-core CPU — two performance cores and four efficiency cores — a 7-core GPU, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine.

What does all of that mean for real-world use? Well, pretty much what you’d expect from a new Pro iPhone: everything is fast. Apps open quickly, jumping between them is fluid, games run smoothly, and even more demanding tasks don’t really give the A20 Pro much pause.

Take video exports, for example. I’ve been exporting 4K videos with graphics, text, and transitions in both Edits and CapCut, and the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max handle them quickly. It’s the kind of task where you can really feel the combination of the new chip and all that processing power, especially when you’re working with more complicated edits.

Gaming is another area where the A20 Pro flexes a bit. Real Flight Simulator runs smoothly, with environments rendering quickly as I’m flying around. The same goes for Wuthering Waves and Genshin Impact, both of which seemingly put a pretty serious load on the phones, which they seemingly handle without issue.

Multitasking has also been a non-issue. I’ve had plenty of apps open, jumped into FaceTime while playing a game, and bounced between multiple text conversations without the iPhone 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max missing a beat. That’s probably the less exciting side of performance, but it’s also where you notice the power of the A20 Pro day-to-day — you don’t really have to think about what’s running in the background.

Photo Clean Up is a bit faster than it was on the iPhone 17 Pro, for example, so removing an unwanted object or person from a shot takes less time. It’s not a massive difference, but when you use these tools frequently, those little speed improvements add up.

Additionally, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max handle heat better, so sustained performance doesn’t come with the same uncomfortable warmth I experienced with the 17 Pro generation. The heat isn’t magically gone, but it’s distributed better, rather than sitting in one spot on the back, and dissipates faster.

It’s worth keeping some perspective here, though. The A20 Pro isn’t night-and-day faster than the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro or the chip in the iPhone Air, and you’ll likely only see more meaningful gains over something like the iPhone 16 Pro in specific scenarios. That’s not really the point.

The A20 Pro gives the iPhone more headroom for the future, especially as we run more and more AI-powered tasks on our phones, and, increasingly, other Apple devices. After spending this much time with it, the A20 Pro gives me no pause about getting several years of strong performance out of the iPhone 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max.

If you’re coming from an iPhone 15 or older, though, that’s where I think you’ll really notice the difference. You’re not just getting a faster chip; you’re getting a phone with considerably more processing headroom for demanding games, video editing, Apple Intelligence, and whatever Apple adds over the next few years.

Additionally, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will both feature the new Apple-made C2 modem globally. On my Burgundy iPhone 18 Pro connected to AT&T's network, I scored over 900MBps down in a jam-packed park, but the story is a little different with the 18 Pro Max in the US. The larger Pro iPhone in the States opts for a Qualcomm modem, but I didn't notice much of an issue with performance. I was connected to the Visible network and averaged about 350MBps to 500MBps down while in the parks and around New Jersey.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max review: Battery

• I averaged around 30 hours, with the Pro Max stretching further
• 50% charge in 15 minutes means you can get back in action quickly with wired charging

Alongside variable aperture on the main camera and the faster A20 Pro inside, Apple is making big promises about battery life with its latest Pro iPhones. In fact, the Cupertino giant notes that the iPhone 18 Pro will last longer than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max offers the longest battery life ever in an iPhone.

More specifically, it’s up to 36 hours of video playback on the iPhone 18 Pro, and up to 45 hours on the iPhone 18 Pro Max. These figures are based on Apple’s video-playback testing, and real-world battery life will vary depending on what you’re doing. Also keep in mind that these devices will need some time to index and get their bearings.

I’ll likely need to come back to this section in the coming weeks as indexing concludes, and I’m not shooting hundreds of photos and many minutes of video a day — after all, this is a review period. But with both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, I’ve averaged around 30 hours of use before needing to plug in, and that stretches a bit further with the Max.

Even on an endurance day in the Florida heat, with hundreds of photos captured and nearly an hour of video recorded, the iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted an impressive amount of time before I needed a pit stop back at the hotel to recharge. It can drain quickly with heavy use, especially when you’re doing a lot of content capture, but in my testing thus far, both phones have been impressive.

In Future Labs' battery test, the iPhone 18 Pro lasted 16 hours and 17 minutes, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max ran for 18 hours and 27 minutes. That’s a good chunk less than Apple’s own video-playback figures, but my daily usage does stretch a bit closer to its claims.

On my last day of testing, I took the iPhone 18 Pro Max off the charger at 6AM and it hit 80% right before 11AM. With lots of app usage and some capture, it dropped to around 40% around 6PM with heavier use, but on average I got about 30 hours of use.

Apple also has improved fast wired charging, letting you hit 50% in just 15 minutes. I achieved that with both phones using Apple’s own Dynamic 40W charger, as well as a smaller Anker 45W Nano Cube. That means even if you do drain the battery, you don’t have to spend long tethered to an outlet before you’re back in business.

• Battery score: 5 / 5

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max: Should you buy?

Buy it if...

Don’t buy it if...

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max: Also consider

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max: How I tested

I’ve covered iPhones since the iPhone 8 generation, and the iPhone 3GS was my first personal iPhone. For this review, I spent a week with the iPhone 18 Pro in Burgundy and the iPhone 18 Pro Max in Glacier.

I used both as daily drivers, covering everything from calls and streaming to gaming, work apps, photography, and video. I also ran performance benchmarks, tested multitasking and demanding workloads, and tracked battery drain across different usage scenarios alongside a standardized battery test.

For the cameras, I captured hundreds of photos and dozens of videos across Disney World — including Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and the resorts — as well as New Jersey, California, and from airplane windows. I tested every rear camera, multiple focal lengths, variable aperture, Pro controls, Night mode, Portrait mode, and video, along with the 18MP Center Stage camera.

I also compared the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max with the previous-generation Pro models, the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and other smartphones including the Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro.

First reviewed September 2026.

It's an unusual Apple iPhone season. Not since the early days of the iPhone almost 20 years ago have we seen such a limited lineup. No base model, no super thin model, no plus model, no mini model. Instead, we have two powerful Pro models and the unusual, foldable iPhone Duo. Without all of Apple's typical next-gen iPhone cards on the table, you might think even Apple would be struggling with how or where to steer consumers. Now, though, thanks to Apple CEO John Ternus, we know exactly which iPhone Apple hopes you buy.

It's the iPhone Duo, okay?

Apple hasn't and honestly wouldn't say this, but sometimes it only takes a subtle signal or simple choice to reveal what should've been obvious in the first place.

On Monday night, amid the Hollywood glitz and glamour of the 78th Primetime Emmys, newly minted Apple CEO John Ternus stood on the red carpet. Looking spiffy and maybe a bit uncomfortable in his tuxedo, with multiple microphones stuck in his face, Ternus fielded questions about Apple TV's incredible seven-year run and vast trove of awards for shows like Shrinking and the freshman Windows Bay, which garnered more season 1 Emmys than any other show before it.

He produced it like magic

Then a Deadline reporter started asking about the new phones. Without hesitation, Ternus pulled the stunning new iPhone Duo from his breast pocket as the reporter squealed with delight.

I guess she could be forgiven for her over-the-top reaction. After all, since Apple unveiled its first folding phone as the "one more thing" during Apple's "Surprise & Shine" iPhone event, not much has been seen of the passport-sized handset. It's shipping almost a month after the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, the only other new iPhones on offer right now.

And yet, here was Ternus, carrying it as, it seems, his phone of choice. Or at least the one he chose for that night. I guess he could've demurred when the reporter asked and pulled out a burgundy iPhone 18 Pro, but he didn't.

It was hard to hear what Ternus said over the reporter's screams, but I think it was "there we go...look at that," as he unfolded the phone to show off the unusual matte and virutally creasless display.

Doing so, on one of the entertainment world's biggest stages, was surely a calculated choice. Apple is steering all eyes toward its $1999 iPhone Duo.

You might say it's a craven attempt to garner more revenue via the pricey handset, but I think something else is at work here.

Why Apple needs to try harder with the Duo

With its late entry into the folding space, Apple is taking a risk. It's calculated, but still a risk. The foldable phone market is tiny, and most of it is owned by Samsung, which has a wide array of folding devices in shapes from the basic Flip to the larger and more powerful (at least camera-wise) Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. It also has a passport-sized Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Apple isn't the first, and we still haven't decided whether it is the best. Still, how often has Samsung had the opportunity to show off its hardware at a big consumer entertainment event ostensibly watched by millions?

Well, it has been pushing its newest foldables in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but in the action film, the phones are featured but not addressed in any real way. No one plays with them on camera to show off new features.

What would Samsung have done?

I do recall, though, when Samsung sponsored the 2014 Oscar telecast and handed out Samsung phones to celebrity audience members. With one of those phones, Ellen took one of the most famous, fame-filled selfies of all time. Even so, that sold people on social media and not the Samsung Galaxy phone.

This Emmy's opportunity was different. You had a willing and tech-obsessed reporter and Ternus, who just so happened to have their newest and most important Apple product in his pocket. There's little chance she would've asked, and he would've presented it, if he were only carrying the iPhone 18 Pro.

That wasn't the only moment where someone mentioned the foldable phone to Ternus. Another entertainment reporter called it the "Flip," and Ternus let it pass (notably without producing the phone). For Apple, it was a golden opportunity to steer consumers toward the new iPhone form factor and give it an even better chance of success.

I know, it was just a few seconds and by no means a true commercial for the iPhone Duo, but give Ternus credit for making the most of it and sending a clear signal of where Apple hopes you spend your next iPhone dollars.

• Huawei's new Kirin 9050 Pro is being called its "most powerful" all-Chinese chip tech giant has ever made
• Huawei is claiming a 55% density gain by 'folding' its chip in half and stacking it instead of shrinking the actual die
• The chip still uses US hardware and foreign technology to manufacture, including ASML scanners and pre-2022 Applied Materials and Lam Research equipment

Huawei has introduced the Kirin 9050 Pro, a mobile processor that it says is fully free of American technology.

The chip powers the Mate XT 2, the third device in the company's tri-fold line, which starts at 19,999 yuan (~$2,980), and went on sale in China on September 12 2026.

The South China Morning Post noted Huawei is reducing reliance on advanced foreign semiconductor equipment, and this might be what the state-backed AI and chip giant wanted to highlight above all else, even as it refused to mention sanctions anywhere in its own press materials.

An impressive SoC that continues to indicate a shrinking technological gap

Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's consumer business group, said on stage that the Kirin 9050 Pro is the company's "most powerful Kirin chip ever" and, based on the performance figures, touts a 42% overall improvement over the last-gen Mate XTs' Kirin 9020.

At the chip level, it claims 24% higher peak single-core and 52% better multi-core throughput against the Kirin 9030 Pro, plus a 142% jump in graphics rendering. The nine-core LinxiCore CPU peaks at 3.1GHz, the Maleoon GPU adds hardware ray tracing, and the Da Vinci NPU runs a 30-billion-parameter mixture-of-experts model on device.

The performance figures alone aren't the only interesting thing about Huawei's new silicon offering; the Kirin 9050 Pro is the first commercial silicon built on LogicFolding, a technique Huawei semiconductor chief He Tingbo presented at IEEE ISCAS in Shanghai in May and expanded on in a signed paper.

Rather than shrinking transistors, LogicFolding splits logic across two active silicon layers bonded face to face, with roughly 50 million vertical interconnects at a pitch of about 1.5 micrometers. Because signals travel shorter distances, Huawei says it could lower operating voltage while raising density.

However, all of these figures (including performance) come directly from Huawei, with no independent verification or peer-reviewed studies. More interestingly, while the Kirin is considerably less dependent on US or Western tech, it doesn't remove it from the equation entirely, and you still have to look closely at the bill of materials for receipts.

Huawei did not announce a process node for the Kirin 9050 Pro, and that silence has been deafening in more ways than one. SemiAnalysis tore down the predecessor in June 2026 and found SMIC's third-generation 7nm process, N+3, reaching about 113 million transistors per square millimeter with no extreme ultraviolet lithography anywhere in the flow.

SMIC's process, however, still leverages ASML immersion scanners. Bloomberg reported in 2024 that SMIC built the earlier Kirin 9000s using equipment acquired from Applied Materials and Lam Research before the October 2022 export rules closed that door, and the same is still in play here.

Despite this, Huawei has come a long way since its phones were declared America-free seven years ago. A UBS and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions analysis seen by the Wall Street Journal in late 2019 found the Mate 30 Pro contained no American parts, and Huawei cybersecurity officer John Suffolk told the paper that "all of our 5G is now America-free." The Kirin 990 inside that phone, however, was fabricated by TSMC on an EUV node.

Huawei's approach, backed by the Chinese state, to essentially rid itself of US influence in the fabrication end of the spectrum remains more of an ongoing struggle than one which it has already achieved, even as it continues to push ahead in certain disciplines and erode a performance gap that industry players earlier thought would take years longer than it is now projected to.

Like many people who've just installed the new iOS 27, you're probably wondering why Siri doesn't seem quite like the new all-singing, all-dancing AI assistant you were promised.

Try to strike up a conversation with it and it will still try to palm you off to ChatGPT, or just throw up a load of web links instead of answering you directly. You'd be forgiven for wondering whether Siri AI is just another failure.

Part of the problem is that Apple's terminology makes it genuinely confusing, but there's an important distinction between iOS 27's Siri and Siri AI that you need to make. Let me explain.

Installing iOS 27 gives you some new Apple Intelligence features, but it does not automatically give you the headline new Siri. The big Siri upgrade is Siri AI (Beta), which you can apply for, but requires joining a separate waitlist.

Of course, that doesn't mean you don't get anything new with iOS 27, though, so let's break it down.

What you get in iOS 27 without joining Siri AI (Beta)

Most of the really dramatic Siri improvements aren't actually part of ordinary Siri. With iOS 27, however, you do get new Apple Intelligence features elsewhere on your iPhone.

For example, existing Writing Tools remain available without Siri AI, while iOS 27 adds things such as Live Translation in Messages, FaceTime and Phone. There's also Call Context, which can surface relevant information such as an airline confirmation code while you're on a call, improved Smart Replies, Mail suggestions and suggested polls.

Visual Intelligence is another useful AI feature that works without Siri AI. Just click and hold the Camera Control button to activate it.

Visual Intelligence is a way of asking ChatGPT, using your voice or text, about what your camera is looking at, as well as searching for similar things online using Google. You can also use it to identify plants, translate text and turn dates on posters or flyers into Calendar events.

There's an onscreen version of Visual Intelligence too, although it's a bit clunky to use. Take a screenshot with the Side + Volume Up buttons and you'll see Visual Intelligence tools appear at the bottom, including Ask, Search, Summarize, and actions such as Add to Calendar. Again, once you tap Ask, you can speak your request instead of typing it.

But these are really iOS and Apple Intelligence upgrades, rather than Siri becoming something like ChatGPT. For that you'll need the upcoming Siri AI.

What you DON'T get until Siri AI (Beta)

With Siri AI, Apple has a long list of new capabilities it says Siri gains:

• Broad world knowledge — with proper conversational answers to general questions rather than relying so heavily on search or ChatGPT.
• Personal context — it can find things buried in your Mail, Messages, Photos and Notes apps, even from fairly natural descriptions.
• Onscreen awareness — you can ask Siri about whatever you're currently looking at without having to take a screenshot. Apple's examples include asking it to explain a diagram in your class notes or compare two reports in Files.
• Much deeper app actions — Apple gives examples including finding information and then drafting an email, or editing and sharing a set of photos.
• Real generative writing — in the new version, Siri itself can compose text from scratch, rewrite, proofread and critique writing. Without Siri AI, you're using the separate Writing Tools instead.
• Conversational history — there's an entirely new dedicated Siri app that sits on your Home screen, with conversations synced privately through iCloud so you can start on one Apple device and continue on another.
• Visual Intelligence through Siri — rather than invoking Visual Intelligence separately, you can simply ask Siri questions about what's on your screen.
• More natural speech and dictation — on supported hardware, Apple says its new on-device model gives Siri more expressive voices, customizable pace and expressiveness, and improved system-wide dictation. This is an area where Siri currently stands well behind Gemini Live and ChatGPT Voice.
• Personalized writing style — Siri can apparently learn how you communicate with different people. Apple's example is recognizing that you normally send your manager short bullet points and drafting your text accordingly.

And that's the Siri AI you don't have yet.

Join the waitlist

The good news is that you can apply to join the beta right now. Go to Settings > Siri, where you should see Siri AI (Beta) at the top of the screen. Tap Join waitlist and you'll be added to the queue. You'll get a notification when Siri AI is available for you.

There are also some major regional restrictions. Siri AI isn't currently available on iPhones or iPads in the European Union, although EU users can access it on Macs and Vision Pro. In mainland China, Siri AI isn't currently available at all for users whose Apple Account region is set to China.

Because I’m in the UK, the EU restrictions don’t apply to me. I've joined the waitlist now, so I'll be putting Siri AI through its paces as soon as Apple lets me in. Until then, if you've installed iOS 27 and wondered why Siri still feels suspiciously like the Siri you had yesterday, there's a simple explanation: it pretty much is.

• A Redditor tried out iOS 27’s new Spatial Reframing tool on their iPhone
• The feature added a ‘random dude’ who wasn’t in the original picture
• It highlights the limits of AI image-editing tools

Apple’s iOS 27 update has just been released to the public, and it comes with an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called Spatial Reframing that lets you adjust the angle of your photos after they’ve been taken. But as one Redditor discovered, the feature has limitations and could potentially do with a little more time in the oven.

Posting on social media, Reddit user friendofmany claimed that iOS 27’s Spatial Reframing tool added a “random dude” into their photo of a horse. The person in the accompanying image was not someone known to the poster and was instead a total hallucination dreamed up by the AI — a “full rando,” in the user’s words.

The Redditor went on to explain that the original photo showed a “tiny bit of hat peeking out behind the horse.” When they moved the focal point of the image using Spatial Reframing, that scrap of headgear was fleshed out into a completely non-existent human.

And while it’s an amusing example of AI losing its way, it aptly showcases the weaknesses of the current tech.

Getting fast and loose with reality

Once you activate Spatial Reframing in iOS 27, you can drag a photo with your finger and the angle of the shot changes accordingly. Apple says this lets you create a more satisfying composition without having to go back and try to capture the moment all over again.

However, this process necessarily means that the AI has to fill in some blanks. If your edits mean the camera now appears to have been pointing in a new direction, Apple’s AI has to get a little creative with what’s in the image. In this case, it seemingly went completely off the rails by dreaming up a person who doesn’t even exist.

It’s not just people where Spatial Reframing has the occasional blip. I’ve had plenty of experiences where the tool got a little too loose with its adjustments. That often occurred when I took a photo of a building or busy street, then tried tweaking the angle using Spatial Reframing — the AI would end up adding features to buildings (such as windows and ledges) that weren’t present in real life.

That’s unsurprising given the AI has to put something in the image, but it was still a little galling considering I was standing there and could see that the AI-edited picture simply didn’t reflect reality.

Back on Reddit, the case of the phantom horseman highlights what can go wrong when you start editing your photos with AI. And with AI tools becoming ever-more prominent in both Apple’s best iPhones and in daily life, it’s likely we’ll continue to see unsettling hallucinations like this. For now, though, it seems clear that Apple’s Spatial Reframing feature could do with a little more work, even as it makes its iOS 27 debut.

Poco F9 Ultra: Two-minute review

Poco’s latest high-end phone, the Poco F9 Ultra, continues to show you don’t have to spend absolute top dollar to get the best performance — but a price increase over the previous-generation model is hard to ignore.

The F9 Ultra replaces the Poco F8 Ultra after less than a year, and with the same chipset and design, it doesn’t change too much at first glance. But look deeper, and this is a refined upgrade that boasts an enormous battery bringing multi-day power, a new 200MP main camera sensor, and some of the best speakers on any phone.

The whole package proves you don’t have to spend four figures to land a phone with top-of-the-line specs and performance. The base model with 12GB RAM and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset costs $799 / £899 — yes, that's a $70 / £150 increase over the starting price of the F8 Ultra, but Poco did explain to TechRadar that it believes this new price remains "competitive" for the level of specs on offer. And it has a point — there are only a handful of phones offering 12GB RAM and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset for less money (one of which is Poco's own F8 Ultra).

The F9 Ultra's massive 6.9-inch AMOLED display looks great and is capable of 185Hz refresh rates during compatible games. Gameplay is also boosted with the unusual addition of a Bose-tuned subwoofer on the back, plus you're getting dual speakers, which makes the F9 Ultra a top choice for hands-free calls and listening to podcasts without headphones (though I still can’t condone blasting music from it here are on principle).

As mentioned, for those after the latest Snapdragon silicon for as little money as possible, the F9 Ultra is only undercut by Poco's own F8 Ultra, or indeed the Xiaomi 17, which launched for £899 but is currently on sale for £699. But the F9 Ultra still costs a whopping $500 / £380 less than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and it wipes the floor with the pricier Google Pixel 11 Pro XL when it comes to gaming.

The cherry on top is a mammoth 8,050mAh battery, one of the biggest on a flagship device available in the UK at the time of writing (September 2026). It means the F9 Ultra can last for three days with moderate use, and I found it impossible to kill in a waking day.

And lastly, aside from a slightly stingy four years of Android updates, six years of security patches to see you through to 2032 is good to see on a phone as well-rounded as this.

Poco F9 Ultra review: Price and availability

• Starts at £899 / $799 / €1,099.99
• A $70 / £150 price increase on the F8 Ultra
• Not officially available in Australia
• Still competitive considering the specs

The Poco F9 Ultra starts at $799 / £749, though the US price varies depending on the seller (the phone is not officially available through US carriers, but $799 is Poco's official US price). Official UK availability is good to see, though £749 represents a £150 increase on the F8 Ultra’s £749 starting price, and at the time of writing, the older model is on sale for £649, which is an absolute steal.

But in being equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, the F9 Ultra undercuts the Galaxy S26 Ultra — the only S26 series phone in the UK to run a Qualcomm chipset — by an almighty £380, and it's much less than the £1,279 Pixel 11 Pro XL, too, whose Tensor G6 chipset can’t hold a candle to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in terms of performance.

In fact, at £899, the F9 Ultra is the same price as the Google Pixel 11, but it offers superior gaming chops, a more expansive display, and much better battery life. That's why, despite increasing the price, Poco believes the F9 Ultra remains "competitive" in today's market — and we're inclined to agree.

• Value Score 4 / 5

Poco F9 Ultra review: Specs

Here’s a look at the Poco F9 Ultra’s key specs:

Poco F9 Ultra review: Design

• Similar look to the iPhone 17 Pro
• Large but manageable device
• Sleek dark cherry colour replaces gaudy denim

The Poco F9 Ultra I reviewed is the lovely Dark Cherry option, which I prefer over the F8 Ultra’s bold but gaudy Denim Blue. Despite being a very large phone, the F9 Ultra is very comfortable to hold thanks to subtly curved aluminum side rails and a ‘Glass Fibre’ composite rear, which should be more resilient than the glass found on most rival flagship devices.

There’s also a black model if you'd prefer a safer option, with a red power button for a pop of color. The Dark Cherry variant hardly shows any fingerprints on its matte surface, and the overall look of the F9 Ultra grew on me in the weeks I was testing it, despite its obvious similarities with the iPhone 17 Pro and indeed the F8 Ultra.

The phone's four-circle camera design alongside the Bose-branded subwoofer is different enough to me, and manages to look as simplistic as possible. The F9 Ultra also doesn’t rock and wobble when used face up on a table, which is a nice touch.

Save for the one-piece volume rocker above the power button on the right edge, there isn't much else to report besides a USB-C port and speaker grilles on the top and bottom. When all is said and done, this is quite a conservative design when it’s not clad in faux denim!

• Design score: 4 / 5

Poco F9 Ultra review: Display

• Large, bright 6.9-inch panel
• Up to 185Hz refresh rate in some games
• Punch-hole selfie camera

The Poco F9 Ultra’s display is excellent, with great brightness and clarity. It's a 6.9-inch 1200 x 2608 AMOLED panel that Poco claims has a peak brightness of 10,000 nits, much higher than rivals. However, it tames that claim by saying this 10,000-nit figure only applies to 1% of the display area, so a 4,500-nit “multi-scenario peak brightness” is the real figure here.

This is a good example of a brand obfuscating the real specs when it doesn’t need to. The F9 Ultra has a great screen, so Poco should lean into the actual numbers rather than fudging a fake one for marketing purposes. The display is very easy to read in bright sunlight, which is all you need to know.

Poco offers excellent granular control over display and color settings, a nod to the phone's gaming focus under the hood. You'll find ‘Original color PRO’ or ‘Vivid’ options in the settings app, which offer full custom control so you can find the right look for you. A dedicated hardware chip can even enhance video quality if you switch the ‘dual-core visuals’ toggle on. All this really does is smooth everything out, so I left it off.

The display can refresh at up to 185Hz, which is the highest I have ever tested on a phone. Most modern OLED displays achieve 120Hz with a variable rate, and some gaming phones have pushed to 144Hz or 165Hz. At the time of writing, the F9 Ultra's 185Hz rate is only available in CrossFire: Legends and Blood Strike, but you'll still get 165Hz in titles like Call of Duty: Mobile and Bang Bang.

So again, what Poco should really say here is that the F9 Ultra has an excellent 120Hz display in most scenarios. That information is hard to come by in the review documents I was provided with, and most users, most of the time, will never see 185Hz unless they play the two aforementioned games daily.

I personally prefer the Pixel 11 Pro XL’s display, which I think handles white balance better and isn’t so blinding to look at, but it’s a close call, and the F9 Ultra certainly has one of the best displays for the price. It’s a great choice for a large screen and undercuts, say, the Galaxy S26 Plus by a significant margin, though the F9 Ultra's display has a slightly lower resolution.

With every conceivable display spec under the sun included here, such as HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and TÜV Rheinland certification for flicker-free viewing and blue light filtration, it’s hard to criticize the screen on this phone.

• Display score: 5 / 5

Poco F9 Ultra review: Cameras

• Strong 200MP main lens
• Very capable 5x telephoto
• Ultra-wide is not the best

Poco has equipped the F9 Ultra with a pleasingly capable trio of cameras, which is led by a 200MP main lens, an upgrade on the 50MP shooter on the F8 Ultra. Shots are binned down to 12.5MP by default, though 50MP and 200MP settings can be toggled on.

In the default mode, shots look excellent, offering most of the color and mood I personally like from Xiaomi phones such as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and 17T Pro, though Poco does not have the same Leica partnership or photo filters here.

Apart from a few times where colors looked wildly oversaturated, I really liked the output from the F9 Ultra. It has an artistic, filmic quality that many phones abandon in 2026 in favor of sharpened, contrast-heavy looks. The main camera is better than that of the regular Galaxy S26, which retails for $899 / £879, $100 / £20 less than the Poco.

It’s great to see a 5x optical zoom lens here too, mirroring what you’ll find on the Xiaomi 17T Pro and beating the S26’s 3x optical lens handily. Images are crisp thanks to optical image stabilization (OIS), and shooting in portrait mode at 5x makes for some great street photography. The F9 Ultra is also a phone that’ll come in handy when you’re sitting up in row Z at your next Harry Styles concert thanks to digital zoom up to 100x, though things look patchy after 30x.

The 50MP ultra-wide lens is the weakest of the three cameras, but that’s usually the case on triple-lens phones. In broad daylight, images are very usable, but without OIS, the smaller sensor size shows its limitations in low light, with noise and grain.

The 32MP selfie shooter is solid for solo and group snaps, and works as you’d expect for video calls.

Speaking of video, the main lens can record at up to 4K at 60fps, or even 8K at 30fps. 4K 60fps is great to see, though the Snapdragon chipset here is probably capable of 4K 120fps, like you’ll find on the aforementioned Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the cheaper 17T Pro. This is a case of Poco limiting its hardware’s capabilities in software, which is a shame, even if most users won’t notice.

That said, the camera app is fully featured and well designed, with an accomplished Pro mode offering the ability to shoot in RAW for those who want to edit images later on their computer.

• Camera score: 4 / 5

Poco F9 Ultra review: Camera samples

Poco F9 Ultra review: Performance

• Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is still excellent
• Nothing slows this thing down
• Bose audio is fun but not a gamechanger

Performance is where Poco phones really shine, and the F9 Ultra is the most performant Poco phone yet. Its flagship-level specs include the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, though this is the same chipset as you'll find in the F8 Ultra. Poco explained this decision to us, so you can see if you agree with the firm's reasoning, but it does appear as though the launch of the F9 series was brought forward this year, because Poco has opted to not use the next-generation flagship Snapdragon chipset, which is usually unveiled in October.

The base $799 / £899 F9 Ultra comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, though there are also 512GB and 1TB storage options available, each offering 16GB RAM. Poco sent me the latter for review, which retails for £1,199 — notably less than the 12GB/256GB Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is £1,279. So, despite some price rises, Poco is still delivering value here for those after the very best specs for the money.

Performance follows, too. I could not get the F9 Ultra to stutter, even when playing Genshin Impact with the settings maxed out — the Pixel 11 Pro XL, by contrast, can’t even load the game.

The impressive thing about the F9 Ultra is its sustained performance under load. Where rival phones can stutter after half an hour or so on Call of Duty: Mobile, the Poco soldiers on (pun intended) without breaking a sweat. The phone didn't overheat once during my time testing it, presumably thanks to the built-in cooling system that Poco says reduces strain on the CPU.

Audio is great thanks to two stereo speakers and the addition of a subwoofer next to the cameras. This is tuned by Bose thanks to a partnership, and promises deeper bass and a wider soundstage. Compared to the Pixel 11 Pro XL and Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, the Poco F9 Ultra sounds much fuller when playing music out loud or listening to gaming audio, though I don’t think this is a reason to buy the phone. The Bose partnership improves audio slightly, but you will still want headphones connected via Bluetooth for most things.

Now that you can no longer buy the identically priced OnePlus 15 in the US or UK (RIP), the F9 Ultra would have been your best bet for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-level power, but the previous-gen F8 Ultra offers incredibly similar performance and is available at the time of publication for £649.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Poco F9 Ultra review: Software

• HyperOS 3 based on Android 16 at launch
• Some AI tools require account sign in
• Four years of Android updates, six of security

The F9 Ultra gets Xiaomi’s HyperOS 3 Android skin, which at launch is based on Android 16, rather than the latest version, 17. Poco says the phone will get four platform updates, presumably to Android 20, and six years of security updates to keep buyers going until 2032.

HyperOS changes the look of Android to feel a little more like the iPhone’s iOS, but that’s no bad thing as it is perfectly functional, if a little cluttered at times. It’s a shame to see bloatware installed on a phone of this price, with AliExpress, Amazon Music, TikTok, and a few others pre-installed, but they can all be removed.

Going the way of iOS, notifications are a swipe from the left while quick settings are from the right. After I’d wrangled the software a bit during setup, I got it looking cleaner with more icons per row and fewer folders full of apps that are initially presented.

What is thankfully not shoved in your face is AI, even though there is a lot of it on board. There’s a whole section in the settings app called Xiaomi HyperAI, which directs you to Google’s built-in Gemini platform, as well as Xiaomi’s own branded AI tools.

AI Dynamic Wallpapers, AI Writing to generate text, AI Speech Recognition to transcribe audio, AI subtitles for videos — AI everything! In the Gallery app, there are some capable AI editing tools, including a beautify mode that works well. But others, such as an Ultra HD toggle or an Expand feature to generate images, require you to sign in to a Xiaomi account within the settings app.

HyperOS is visually quite different to Google’s Android flavor on the Pixel or the now-barely-seen ‘stock’ Android look, but I’ve warmed to it in recent months. It’s perfectly functional, and mercifully lets you swipe down on notifications to expand them, unlike on fellow Xiaomi stablemate Redmi’s phones.

The software is also very responsive on this hardware. Menus flow, and apps open instantly. I saw and felt no difference between the F9 Ultra and other, more expensive Android flagship phones. It feels faster than Samsung’s S26 series in many ways, though that could be down to Samsung’s slower default animations.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Poco F9 Ultra review: Battery

• Two- to three-day battery life
• 100W fast charging but no charger in UK box
• 50W wireless and 27W reverse wired charging

The F9 Ultra has a whopping 8,050mAh silicon-carbon battery. This new tech means phone makers can put higher-density batteries in phones than they could with lithium-ion, resulting in devices of the same physical thickness that last for much longer. Using the F9 Ultra as my main phone for more than a week, I consistently got two days of use out of it, sometimes stretching into a third day’s morning.

That’s seriously good longevity, made even more impressive by the phone’s flagship specs. It’s capable of 100W wired charging, but there is frustratingly no charger in the box for UK buyers. I tested the charging speed of the F9 Ultra using a Vivo 100W charging brick with the ‘Top Speed’ charging setting turned on.

The phone went from dead to 100% in 95 minutes, which is impressive for a battery of this size, and it got to 27% in 15 minutes. You’ll have to fork out for a compatible fast charger, which is a little galling when you’re laying down at least $799 / £899.

The phone also has 50W wireless charging — faster than the S26 Ultra can do via a wired connection (45W) — and can even be used as a power bank for other devices thanks to 27W wired reverse charging and 22.5W reverse wireless charging.

A few phones on the market go for longer, like the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max, but the Poco F9 Ultra gets top marks here for stonking battery life paired with top-tier specs.

Here are the phone's charging speed results broken down:

• In 15 minutes: 27%
• In 30 minutes: 46%
• 0-50%: 33 minutes
• 0-100%: 95 minutes

• Battery score: 5 / 5

Should you buy the Poco F9 Ultra?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Poco F9 Ultra review: Also consider

The Poco F9 Ultra is a strong phone in its price range, but there are a couple of similarly priced options worth considering alongside it:

How I tested the Poco F9 Ultra

• Review test period: Two weeks
• Testing included: Everyday use with messaging, web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music streaming
• Tools used: Geekbench 6, 3DMark

I tested the Poco F9 Ultra over the course of two weeks, using it as my main phone with my main SIM card for a week, and as a secondary phone on other days. I used it to make calls, send WhatsApp messages, take video calls, play mobile games, stream podcasts and music, and take scores of photos.

I tested the performance of the phone’s display, chipset, cameras, and battery life for this review, comparing results with Poco’s claims as well as my decade of experience reviewing Android smartphones professionally. I’ve used many of the most recent Android flagship devices the F9 Ultra is gunning for.

I also ran benchmark tests using the Geekbench 6 and 3DMark apps to qualify my performance assessments of the phone.

Read more about how we test here.

• First tested September 2026

• Apple is reportedly working on Beats-branded game controllers for iPhones
• Mark Gurman says Apple has been working on them for almost a year
• Gurman suggests the Beats team is leading on both 'product engineering and conception'

Apple seemingly continues to show its devotion to gaming with something that's in the pipeline for iOS gamers.

As reported by PC Mag, macOS 26.7 code references two unreleased iPhone game controllers, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests Apple has been working on them for almost a year. More importantly, though, Gurman says these controllers could launch under the Beats brand.

The controllers are codenamed T6502 and T1057 according to MacRumors (which discovered the references), with different haptic designs alongside a standard game controller's features. Beats, which was acquired by Apple in 2014, is a brand often used for its own popular audio products (of course), but also for USB-C cables and some iPhone cases.

Now, it appears as though Beats may well represent gaming accessories for Apple going forward, and Gurman claims these controllers are being led by Beats executives in both "product engineering and conception".

It's a potential move that comes at a convenient time for iPhone owners intrigued by gaming, as the RAM crisis continues to impact the PC hardware and games console market. Gurman observes that Apple sees gaming accessories such as those for phones as a "growing market and wants in".

Game controller and speaker hybrid?

If this does indeed happen, it seems somewhat bizarre to have Beats producing game controllers, as it's quite a switch from the traditional audio products. Fortunately though, it opens the door to some surprising designs, and I'm thinking specifically of the audio side of the equation when connecting the purported controllers to an iPhone.

Maybe Beats could look to do something similar to Asus and its ROG Phone AeroActive Coolers, which feature shoulder buttons for gaming alongside a built-in subwoofer for a significant boost in bass and audio quality. No, these ROG peripherals aren't full game controllers, but they effectively illustrate what could be realized with a hybrid speaker and controller combo.

Based on the brief design description from the references found in macOS, alongside Gurman's report, it's hard to say that the rumored peripherals will be anything other than simple controllers. But there are presumably opportunities for clever design twists, particularly given the Beats branding.

If this Beats rumor turns out to be true, it's clear that Apple is looking to serve a market that is growing amid the RAM crisis, and hoping to leverage the accessibility that comes with iPhones for gaming.

Today's the day when Apple starts rolling out iOS 27 to millions of iPhones around the world — and as I've been using the developer version of the software since it was first pushed out in June, I can tell you about the best features coming your way.

The good news is that every iPhone that can run iOS 26 can also run iOS 27, though some of the more advanced Siri AI features (like the ability to change its pace and 'expressivity') are only available on the newer models with more powerful chipsets.

You'll get a notification popping up on your phone when iOS 27 is ready for you, but if you're not patient enough for that you can open up Settings on iOS and tap General > Software Update to see if there's an update waiting.

1. Reframe your photos

iOS 27 arrives with some clever AI-powered photo editing tricks, including one called Reframe. It lets you slightly change the angle of a picture you've taken, with AI adjusting the background to match.

In Photos, tap on an image to open it, then tap the icon showing three sliders at the bottom. If you then tap Tools and Reframe, you can touch and drag on the screen to change the perspective (use two fingers to pan and zoom). Tap Reframe to confirm.

The other options on the Tools menu can be useful too: Extend will use AI to imagine a wider background canvas for you, while Clean Up lets you remove specific objects or people from your images.

2. Create Shortcuts with natural language

The Shortcuts app is one of the most powerful tools available in iOS, but as we've written about before, it's not all that easy to use. With the new software update, building shortcuts becomes much easier: you can just describe the combinations you want using natural language, which significantly simplifies the process.

Shortcuts let you set up a myriad of automations and routines on your iPhone: turn text into audio, play a podcast after your morning alarm, tag notes in batches, let people know you're running late, create GIFs from videos, and a whole lot more. Open the Gallery tab in the shortcuts app for some inspiration.

With iOS 27 installed, if you tap the + (plus) button on the main All Shortcuts screen, you can simply describe what you want your shortcut to do — whether it's attaching screenshots to emails or summarizing your to do list for the day.

3. Choose a separate alarm volume

Not a feature that's going to necessarily grab the headlines, but definitely one of the most useful ones that I've come across since I first installed iOS 27: you can now set alarm volumes separately from the main ringtone and system volumes.

Head into Sounds & Haptics from Settings on iOS, turn off the Match Ringtone Volume toggle switch under Alarms and Timers, and set your preferred alarm volume — a customization that's been long overdue.

4. Adjust the Liquid Glass effect

The people asked, and Apple listened: you can now take the edge off the Liquid Glass effect if you find it a bit overwhelming in its default state. The available adjustments aren't huge, but you can tone it down (or turn it up) a little.

From Settings in iOS, tap Appearance > Liquid Glass. You get a slider that lets you shift from quite a lot of transparency (on the left) to hardly any transparency (on the right), with the changes previewed for you on the image above.

Apple has also done some cleaning up of Liquid Glass in iOS 27, so you should notice a few refinements as you start using the new operating system: as per Apple, Liquid Glass now offers "more uniform refraction and improved contrast", while individual app icons have been made "sharper and more detailed".

5. Siri AI

The biggest new feature in iOS 27 is the comprehensive upgrade that Siri's getting. It has a new name (the same as the old name, with "AI" on the end), plus vastly better underlying models (courtesy of Google) that mean it's now on a par with the likes of ChatGPT when it comes to the quality and breadth of answers you get.

So what's actually new? When it first lands, Siri AI will spend a while indexing everything on your phone, so it can give you more context about what's in your texts, calendars, and emails (none of this data gets sent back to Apple) — and it can take more actions inside apps too, including creating notes, rotating photos, resuming podcasts, and much more.

You can now give commands like "show me photos from when I went to Spain" with this personal context, and ask questions like "why do stars twinkle in the sky?" without the assistant handing off to ChatGPT. There's also a standalone Siri app for the first time, meaning you can save your chats and sync them across devices.

iOS 27 is now rolling out to compatible iPhones, and this year, the list of models supported by Apple's new software update is impressively long.

Typically, Apple leaves a handful of iPhones out in the cold when releasing a new version of iOS — the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max, for instance, couldn't run iOS 26 — but refreshingly, the device requirements for iOS 27 are the same as those for iOS 26.

That means the iPhone SE (2020), iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max — all of which you might have expected to lose support this year — will still be able to run iOS 27, which is an impressive showing of software support on Apple's part.

Alas, the device requirements for Apple Intelligence and Siri AI aren't so straightforward, so in this guide, we've detailed the support list for iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, Siri AI, and iPadOS 27.

iOS 27

Here’s the full compatibility list for iOS 27:

• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone SE (2022)
• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 18 Pro
• iPhone 18 Pro Max
• iPhone Duo

iOS 27 is supported by a whopping 33 iPhone models, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the largest-ever single pool of latest-update-compatible models.

What's more, iOS 27 began rolling out to all 33 of these models in one fell swoop on September 14 — Apple didn't ask owners of older iPhones to wait, which is something we've seen Samsung do, for instance, with its One UI updates.

It’s worth noting, however, that even though older models like the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 support iOS 27, Apple Intelligence — which includes features like Clean Up, Live Translation, and Apple's new AI-powered voice assistant, Siri AI — remains locked to the iPhone 15 Pro and newer.

Siri AI

As above, only those iPhones that are already compatible with Apple Intelligence will support Siri AI. The full list is as follows (I've included iPads and MacBooks, too):

• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 18 Pro
• iPhone 18 Pro Max
• iPhone Duo
• iPad models with M1 or later
• MacBooks with M1 or later
• MacBook Neo

Importantly, though, not all Siri AI features will be available on those iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.

Specifically, expressive voices and advanced dictation are limited to devices powered by Apple’s "most powerful on-device model," AFM Core Advanced. Those devices are as follows:

• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 18 Pro
• iPhone 18 Pro Max
• iPhone Duo
• iPad Pro models from 2024 and later (7th generation onwards)
• iPad Air models from 2026 and later (8th generation onwards)
• MacBook Pro models from 2023 and later
• MacBook Air models from 2024 and later

Additionally, those iPads and MacBooks will need to be equipped with at least 12GB of memory to be capable of running advanced Siri AI features.

Importantly, Siri AI isn't available in any form on iPhones and iPads in the European Union (EU) or China: "Unfortunately, due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple will not be able to ship Siri AI in the European Union with the release of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. Over the past several months, EU regulators did not accept any of Apple’s proposed solutions to bring Siri AI to the EU while safely supporting other virtual assistants," Apple explained in a blog post.

Interestingly, though, EU users can access Siri AI on macOS 27 and visionOS 27.

So, frustratingly, you'll need to meet quite a few criteria if you're hoping to try the best version of Siri AI on your Apple device.

iPadOS 27

As for iPads, specifically, the only iPadOS 26-compatible models that don't also support iPadOS 27 are the iPad 10.2-inch (2020), iPad Air 10.5-inch (2019), and iPad mini 7.9-inch (2019).

Here’s the full compatibility list for iPadOS 27:

• iPad models from 2021 and later (9th generation onwards)
• iPad Air models from 2020 and later (4th generation onwards)
• iPad Pro models from 2017 and later (2nd generation onwards)
• iPad mini models from 2021 and later (6th generation onwards)

Side note: almost all iPad models are available in multiple sizes and in Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + Cellular configurations, so, in the interest of readability, I’ve grouped the above models into dated categories.

I joined the tech journalism game just after the first iPhone launched, and I worked at an Apple reseller when the first one was announced, so I am as familiar as anyone can be with the sensation of watching the yearly iPhone stream and immediately weighing up whether the new model looks worth the upgrade or not.

I have the decision-making involved down to a fine art. Well, actually, that's probably too romantic a way to put it — after nearly 20 years, it's probably more like a cold algorithm. I have moved past feeling automatic excitement about all the things I'll definitely do with the new features of the iPhone 18 Pro, in the way that I once would have.

Don't get me wrong, the first variable aperture camera on an Apple phone would actually be genuinely useful to me, because I often have to take images of products for my work in rooms without a lot of light, and the larger aperture with improved sensor will mean cleaner, sharper images. (And as a video nerd, the variable shutter-speed recording option and 60fps cinematic mode both look cool as heck.)

And the fact that the iPhone 18 Pro will get the smartest version of Siri is something I'm cautiously interested in. I've found Apple Intelligence to be, bluntly, borderline disastrous so far — but the new version looks like it's on the right track. It has the smarts to be an actually useful addition, instead of one that sometimes adds more confusion than it solves (which is my experience of Apple Intelligence to date).

And as a tech-head, I was super-impressed with the power put into the A20 Pro, with Apple saying its new "super cores" bring "desktop-class" performance. Based on the stats we've seen before, I don't doubt it.

Having a dual neural processor system is quite the brute-force way to take the lead in AI computation power, and even ignoring most 'AI' uses, it could enable apps to do some really interesting stuff. Again, this is the kind of thing that once would have tempted to upgrade me just for the potential — or the FOMO, depending on how you look at it.

Let's get practical

But these things don't compel me the way they used to. There was only one element of the iPhone 18 Pro that actually made me lean forward and go "Ooooh" — and it was the battery.

Right now, I have the iPhone 16 Pro, so I'm in the zone for a potential upgrade. Apple is claiming a 34-hour battery life for the iPhone 18 Pro for video playback; for my iPhone 16 Pro, that figure is 27 hours. So that's a 26% increase for me in a single upgrade, and this would be a big deal for me.

Some other figures are improved even more dramatically — the 'streamed video' figure jumps from 22 hours in the 16 Pro to 31 hours in the 18 Pro, so that's a 41% improvement. To err on the side of caution, let's assume the more general improvement for typical use is around 30%.

The iPhone 16 Pro was already a great battery life upgrade when I got it, and lasts all day for me… but increasingly, it only just lasts all day. I've never been completely caught without enough power, but I've had to go into Low Power Mode to ensure I'm okay a few times when I've fallen below 20% battery.

That's the anxiety zone. The fact that I've never run out doesn't matter — falling to 20% or lower feels like running out, because now you're changing your habits. If something goes wrong while traveling home from an event and you need to fire up the GPS for a while, you're at risk of actually running out when you need it most.

With a roughly 30% increase, I'm expecting that I'll almost never drop into the red portion of the battery bar in daily use. I'll always have that buffer for emergencies, even after a really long day of using mapping to get around a city, or a day where I've spent a lot of time in surprisingly battery-hogging apps like Reddit.

It is surely a sign of my boring mid-life desires (or, if I'm being kind to myself, a sign of 'maturity') that this is what pulls me in like a magnet, not a shinier GPU or manual camera controls I'll never really make the most of.

Apple says that the battery life improvements come in part from the A20 Pro processor being more efficient, a design of battery, and the intriguingly vague "advanced system improvements".

In general, with battery improvements, you're usually look at a little improvement from battery chemistry, a little from the processor, a little from other components such as wireless connections or the display, and a little from software. It seems like that's the case here, except with maybe more than 'a little' being added from the new battery itself and the A20 Pro, giving us a bigger boost.

It's hard to make this benefit flashy in a presentation, but Apple went for it in the livestream — and evidently it's what I want to hear. That might be partly because, iPhone Duo aside, there's not a lot of major changes coming in phones these days that have big practical benefits. And it might be partly because I am a man of efficiency over excitement these days. I suspect I'm not alone there, so I'm happy to see Apple giving people like me the leap forward we actually want.

• Both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max get battery bumps
• The increases are now confirmed in EU labeling
• In the US, the iPhone 18 Pro Max sticks with a Qualcomm modem

Apple doesn't always publish full spec sheets for its devices, but if you were wondering just what the battery capacity of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max were, we now know — thanks to European Union regulations demanding that these details are made public.

Energy labels applied to the phones in the EU (via Android Headlines) show that the iPhone 18 Pro is fitted with a 4,056 mAh battery, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 5,391 mAh battery inside. Those represent 1.45% and 11.8% increases, respectively, on the models from the previous year.

Apple describes the battery bump on the iPhone 18 Pro Max as "the largest increase in battery life ever" on an iPhone, and says you can get 45 hours of video playback between recharges. For the iPhone 18 Pro, it's 36 hours.

One small wrinkle: these capacities refer to iPhones sold in the EU, so these models will be ones with a physical SIM card slot. The handsets sold in the US and some other regions are eSIM-only, so may have even better batteries inside.

Something different

There's more specs digging over at MacRumors, where a tip shared on social media suggests that every iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max handset has Apple's own C2 modem inside — except for the iPhone 18 Pro Max models sold in the US, which uses a Qualcomm chip.

The difference has apparently been revealed in code for iOS 27 — though for the moment it's not confirmed (pre-orders aren't shipping until Friday, September 18) — and it's most likely the Qualcomm Snapdragon X85 modem.

There shouldn't be any noticeable variation in performance between the Apple C2 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X85, though Apple says the C2 offers faster speeds than its previous C1X. It's not clear why the Qualcomm chip is hanging around in this one model, but it may be to do with contractual obligations.

We'll be bringing you our thoughts on these phones in the coming days and weeks, including the foldable Apple iPhone Duo. And if you're wondering where the standard iPhone 18 is, it's expected in March with the iPhone 18e and iPhone Air 2.

Surprise! Apple unveiled its first foldable phone — the iPhone Duo — at its big September event last week. The fact that we knew for months (if not years) it was coming made the “Surprise” in Apple’s “Surprise and Shine” tagline feel slightly unnecessary, but there we go.

And yes, despite the cat being so far out of the bag that it had run down the street and disappeared over the horizon, I still felt a pang of excitement at the Duo's official unveiling, of the kind I haven’t felt for an iPhone reveal in many years. This was a big announcement, and one that I think Apple really nailed.

Yet there’s one thing stopping me from smashing the proverbial piggy bank and throwing wads of money at Apple like Fry from Futurama. And it’s made me wonder who exactly is going to buy the iPhone Duo once it lands this October.

A flawed first attempt

As exciting as it is, the iPhone Duo is clearly a device for early adopters. Like the iPhone Air before it, it’s an exciting yet compromised device that lacks many of the features found on more affordable models.

You only get two cameras versus the three on the iPhone 18 Pro, for example, despite that device costing almost half the price of the iPhone Duo. There’s no Action button, either, nor Face ID, with Touch ID making a somewhat anachronistic comeback and offering a weaker seal on your device than Apple’s facial recognition tech — a bizarre step for a company as obsessed with user security as Apple.

Of course, those Apple fans who do end up buying the iPhone Duo will clearly be willing to see past these drawbacks and, ultimately, be more concerned with the experience of using the device — and Apple has always excelled at making its products seem fun and stylish to use.

Remember the original iPhone? It came without video recording, without 3G connectivity, without third-party apps, and with subpar battery life. Yet none of that stopped it from completely revolutionizing the smartphone industry, with Apple’s rivals quickly realizing they could never go back to the old way of doing things. The iPhone Duo has the potential to do the same thing.

But being an early adopter doesn’t only mean you have to accept missing features that might, eventually, one day arrive — you also have to stump up more cash. And at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499, the iPhone Duo is easily Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever.

Now look, I can understand that a foldable phone is going to cost more than its non-foldable siblings. After all, you’re essentially getting three times the displays of the iPhone 18 Pro, special software features that aren’t available anywhere else, and a completely different user experience than is currently offered by the rest of the iPhone range.

The Duo was never going to be cheap. And considering the pre-event rumors suggesting it could start at as much as $2,500, the final $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499 price is, strangely, something of a relief.

But the iPhone Duo has made me contemplate one point in particular: who actually needs a foldable phone? Apple’s competitors have been making them for years (to varying degrees of success and quality), but in all that time, I’ve only ever seen one in the wild. I’ve never even been tempted to try one myself before the iPhone Duo came along.

Far from the revolution we were promised at the dawn of the foldable era, what we’ve seen in actuality has been something of a damp squib — and that’s not exactly auspicious for Apple’s first crack at the market.

Who’s going to buy it?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m extremely excited for the iPhone Duo. I haven’t felt the need to rush down to the Apple Store to try the latest iPhones like this for years. Usually, I’m happy to wait and go whenever it's convenient to do so. Now, though, I want to be there yesterday.

There’s a lot I love about the Duo, from the thoughtful passport design to the way Apple has cleverly minimized (but, alas, not totally hidden) the crease. What entices me most is the way the software adapts to whatever you’re doing with the hardware. This isn’t just an operating system that's been crammed into a new and awkward form factor. It’s obvious that Apple has tried hard to make sure that iOS not only works on the iPhone Duo, but does so in captivating ways.

But none of this excitement and intrigue outweighs my reluctance to fork out two grand for the privilege of owning the Duo. That’s a huge amount of money to pay for a phone, especially one that’s missing key features to the extent that the iPhone Duo is.

If someone like me — an Apple fan who has been buying iPhones since the days of the iPhone 3GS — can’t be moved to actually buy an iPhone Duo, who can? Certainly not your everyday punters. This is not a phone that’s going to sell in the same ballpark as the regular iPhone 18 (whenever it eventually arrives).

To my mind, it’s a device that many people will want to try, but that few will actually buy. Much like the Vision Pro, it’s Apple’s first attempt in a new category, and people are right to be cautious of that.

But I’m hoping that, unlike the Vision Pro, Apple doesn’t fumble it this time. It’s clear that the company has swallowed much of the cost increases caused by the global RAM crisis — the Duo could easily have cost far more than $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499, as the early rumors implied.

Now Apple needs to make sure the iPhone Duo can pull off the same winning formula as the original iPhone — and not that of the Vision Pro. I hope it can, because as much as I’ve balked at its sky-high price, I don’t remember the last time I was this enamored with a shiny new iPhone.

Can you buy an iPhone for a lower price overseas and bring it back to your home country, and more importantly, should you?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question by friends, family, and TechRadar readers. And look, I get it: iPhones have always appeared to be cheaper in the US than in, say, the UK and Australia, and that’s true again this year for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo.

The former, for instance, starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099. At the time of writing, if you convert $1,199 into British pounds, you get around £1,620; if you do the same conversion into Australian dollars, you get around AU$1,671. Those are much lower prices than £1,199 and AU$2,099, respectively, so it makes sense to buy your iPhone 18 Pro in the US, right? Well, not exactly.

Before we dig into the details, I will assume that you’re only considering this question if you’re either currently on vacation in the US, planning to be on vacation in the US, or have someone visiting you from the US who is happy to stop by the Apple Store on their way to you. Hopefully I don’t need to explain that flying to the US for the sole purpose of buying a cheaper iPhone will be more expensive than buying that same iPhone locally.

Also, Apple doesn’t ship iPhones directly from its US online store to a UK address, so even if you can live with all the other caveats I’m about to explain, you’ll still need to be on the ground in the US, or have someone on the ground in the US, to receive the delivery.

So, what are the main things to consider when bringing a US-sold iPhone into another country? Let’s use the UK as our primary example (if only because 99% of the people who ask me this question are British).

Taxes and duties

Firstly, the iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo you buy in the US will likely cost more than its $1,199 / $1,999 list price. In the UK, the list price of an item typically includes applicable taxes and duties such as VAT, because these figures are determined by the UK government.

In the US, taxes and duties are determined at the state-, county-, and even city-level. The amount of sales tax you’ll pay on an iPhone 18 Pro, for instance, varies from 0% in Oregon to 10% in Louisiana (websites like ApplePriceHunt can show you the exact figures for every US city), and so the final price on an entry-level iPhone 18 Pro could be as much as $1,318.

Admittedly, that maximum price (which equates to around £975) is still cheaper than the iPhone 18 Pro’s £1,199 UK list price, but it’s worth acknowledging that the savings aren’t as big as they might seem initially.

As for customs duties at the airport, there is currently no customs duty in the UK on iPhones bought for personal use, though you (or your iPhone carrier) will still have to declare the iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo when entering the UK, as it’s worth over £390.

If you plan on having the device shipped from the US to the UK, the iPhone will be treated as an imported parcel, and therefore be subject to 20% VAT, which wipes out your aforementioned list price saving.

Other countries, of course, will have their own customs rules, so it’s worth doing some research before you try shipping an iPhone to your home country, or try bringing one through customs at the airport.

SIM compatibility

For the iPhone 18 Pro specifically, the next thing to consider is the eSIM question. All new iPhones sold in the US are eSIM-only, i.e., they don’t feature a physical SIM card tray. In the UK, meanwhile, new iPhones support eSIMs and still feature a physical SIM tray (apart from the iPhone Air and iPhone Duo, which are eSIM-only globally).

So if your current or future mobile contract is digital-only, you should still be able to use it with a US-sold iPhone 18 Pro (EE, for instance, has previously confirmed to TechRadar that any EE eSIM will work with a US-sold iPhone). But if you’re on a contract with a physical SIM, you’ll either have to convert to an eSIM (if your provider allows that) or switch to an eSIM contract. You’ll have to forget about prepaid physical travel SIMs, too.

Warranty issues

The biggest consideration when buying an iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo in the US for use in another country is the lack of warranty guarantees.

The Apple One-Year Limited Warranty covers iPhones against defects in materials and workmanship for one year from the original date of purchase, but Apple’s warranty policy specifically states that “Apple may restrict warranty service for hardware products to the country where Apple or its Authorized Distributors originally sold the device.”

In other words, if something goes wrong with your US-sold iPhone, you’ll almost certainly only be able to claim warranty support for it in the US. The use of “may” in Apple’s policy wording implies a degree of discretion on the part of Apple Store employees, but I wouldn’t count on being able to claim warranty support on a US-sold iPhone in the UK.

Beyond Apple’s own warranty guarantee, the UK also has strong consumer protection laws that give customers the right to cancel an order for a full refund within 14 calendar days of the day the goods were received. This law applies to orders made online, by mail, and over the phone, but not in person — however, according to Apple’s UK Returns and Refunds policy, you can return an iPhone bought in-person at a physical Apple Store for a full refund within the same 14-day window.

Officially, the UK's consumer protection laws still apply to items bought from an overseas retailer if you’re a UK-based consumer, but overseas shipping arrangements and international jurisdictions will likely make claiming a refund on your US-sold iPhone 18 Pro a long and drawn-out process.

Frequency bands

Lastly, differing frequency bands between the US and UK used to be an important consideration when buying an iPhone overseas, but these days, US-sold iPhones support all of the same frequency bands as UK-sold iPhones.

Frequency bands allow iPhones to connect to cellular networks, and EE previously confirmed to TechRadar that it is “not aware of any issues connecting to UK frequency bands [from a US-sold iPhone].” That said, if your mobile network promises certain data speeds, and your US-sold iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo fails to deliver those speeds, you may have a harder time crying foul than you would if using a locally bought iPhone.

Verdict

So, is it worth buying an iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, or iPhone Duo for a lower price overseas? My responsible answer is ‘no’, simply because the savings available aren’t worth the potential headache of warranty guarantees, SIM compatibility, customs declaration, and shipping charges.

That said, if you’re someone who’s already using an eSIM mobile contract outside of the US, and are willing to 1) forgo any potential warranty-claiming power in your home country and 2) declare your boxed iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo at customs, there’s nothing inherently wrong with cashing in on Apple’s US-friendly iPhone pricing.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max preorders begin on September 12 at 5am PT / 8am ET / 1pm BST, and the phones begin shipping on September 18. The iPhone Duo, meanwhile, opens for preorders on October 16 and begins shipping on October 23.

We’re currently putting all three phones through their paces, so stay tuned to TechRadar for our full reviews of each device.

• Google has quietly pulled the Pixel tablet from its online store
• You can no longer purchase it from third-party retailers, or buy any accessories
• Users are disappointed, but not surprised that Google has axed another one of its devices

Google has seemingly pulled the plug on one of its most underrated devices, the Pixel Tablet, and in true Google style, it did this very quietly — leaving users bitterly disappointed.

For starters, the Pixel Tablet’s product listing has disappeared from the Google Store after launching in 2023, leaving users to believe that the company’s flagship tablet is no more. It’s also no longer available to purchase through third-party retailers such as Amazon, and while you can still view it on Best Buy, the listing states that ‘this item is no longer available in new condition’.

Even its array of accessories has run its course on the Google Store. Products such as the Speck SandyShell Case and the Charging Speaker Dock cannot be purchased, and you can only opt in to ‘Get notified’ if they ever come back into stock which, given the absence of the tablet itself, is highly unlikely.

Though the Google Pixel Tablet may not have been as popular as the iPad or other models in the pool of the best tablets, it was still a respected and admired device by those who habituate the Google/ Android ecosystem. Reddit has been a hotspot for users to air their disappointment, but that said, not everyone is entirely surprised about it: ‘It's a shame. It's one of the most underrated products they came out with,’ one user wrote.

For others, it’s more than that. Some believe that Google’s decision to axe its only tablet doesn’t help for maintaining a complete cross-device experience for users, which another user highlights in a Reddit thread (below). It doesn't help if you’ve been toying with the idea of getting a Pixel Tablet to use alongside your Pixel Phone and Pixel Watch.

It feels like Google is taking a step back, as opposed to enhancing the user experience. That said, the tech giant’s approach to its Pixel Tablets has always been a bit rocky, and other users are putting the device’s demise down to Google’s total neglect of its tablet range.

As mentioned, the Google Pixel Tablet was unveiled in 2023, starting at $399 / £399 / AU$649, then rumors of a second tablet started floating around, and naturally, we became excited. There were even talks of a third tablet, until word that Google had completely halted its production shut the rumor down. In the end, Google only released the one tablet, leaving both the Pixel Tablet 2 and Pixel Tablet 3 in the dust.

We’re just as disappointed as you, yet equally unsurprised, that yet another perfectly intact Google device has been wiped from the face of the planet. Given the company’s recent decision to retire its lineup of Nest Audio speakers to make room for its upgraded Google Home Speaker, it was only a matter of time before Google would put another device on the firing line.

As it stands, we don’t know what Google’s intentions are moving forward. It could be that, just like its audio devices, Google is either preparing to enter a new era and rethink its approach to tablets — or leave an open void.

We've contacted Google for a comment, and will update this story if/ when we hear back.

I've known John Ternus for almost a dozen years, but not this John Ternus, the newly minted Apple CEO and sudden global tech celebrity. So, color me pleased when he and his Global Marketing SVP Greg Joswiak agreed to sit down with Tom's Guide Global Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer and me for a podcast discussion that ranged from bringing Pencil to the iPhone and excitement around the foldable iPhone Duo to what AI means for innovation, and the big moment when Ternus realized he was about to become CEO of arguably one of the biggest and most important tech companies in the world.

It's kind of wild to watch someone who you think of as a brilliant but also normal and approachable guy transform into an industry rockstar almost overnight, and while Ternus, who is a 25-year Apple veteran and came directly from leading Apple's hardware operations, doesn't seem outwardly fazed by the transition, he's also attuned to the moment.

"What an extraordinary privilege, right?" said Ternus with a wide grin. The reality is, I just love this place, right? It's in my blood. ...I love the people I work with. I love to be able to build the products that we all build together. And so, goosebumps...and excitement."

What Ternus didn't say is that he was in any way nervous, worried, or even had any fear about the sheer scope of the role. But then, that shouldn't surprise anyone, certainly not Joswiak, who sat next to Ternus and told me, "John will be too humble to say it. The product quality that we have is really — there's nobody in the industry close to what we have — and this has really accelerated during the time that John has started leading the hardware organization that became such an incredible part of designing for that reliability and as well as testing for it. It's just off the charts."

The AI of it all

Throughout our discussion, Ternus's excitement and commitment to doing things the Apple way is clear. He's clearly so deeply embedded in every aspect of the Apple product pipeline, and when I pressed him on innovation, he made it clear that, obviously, Apple is innovating, but that he also has a point of view and, naturally, it involves AI.

"[This is] the most exciting time in my career to be building product because AI presents all these new opportunities." Ever the big-picture thinker, Ternus quickly added that you can't develop AI without being "really thoughtful about and deliberate about" it.

Still, Apple's next phase of innovation seems inexorably linked to AI. "You can see what we're able to do now in our products that we were never able to do before." Ternus mentioned the new Smart Take feature on the iPhone Duo, which essentially knows when you want to take a photo without you explicitly telling it so.

• Also read: Apple CEO John Ternus on iPhone Duo, fixing foldable screens, and the end of the no-stylus 'rule

"Those are incredibly new, exciting capabilities for the kind of products we've made. But this also opens the door for new kinds of products, and so we're just really excited....I couldn't be more excited about our roadmap and what we have ahead of us, and yeah, it's going to be fun."

Rules? There are no rules

Ternus strikes me as maybe more flexible than Steve Jobs was on certain points. Take, for instance, Apple Pencil support on the iPhone Duo. That is an iPhone with digital stylus support.

In 2008, Steve Jobs famously dismissed stylus support for the iPhone. I think his exact words were, "Yuck."

Ternus, though, told me, " I've never really thought of it as a rule. We started with iPad. There was no Apple Pencil, right? And we proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a touch interface on an iPad can be an amazingly capable and productive thing. But then there's things you can do with a pencil on that larger screen that are really powerful and capable. And I think we saw that opportunity here."

So no clear answer on innovation, but Ternus is smart about spotting and seizing opportunity.

His approach to whatever comes next is, it seems, rooted in his love of Apple and acting on those opportunities.

"I love making product," said Ternus, who added that he loves "doing it with the people here at Apple." He then pointed with some pride at the iPhone Duo, noting that he's "most excited to build amazing things like that."

iPhone is still the one

For all the changes at Apple, in the industry at large, and even trends around smartphone use, the iPhone remains firmly at the center of Apple's Ring. The introduction of the iPhone Duo, a wholly new form factor and the first two-in-one iPhone, is evidence of that, but so is how Ternus sees screens, in general.

During the keynote, Ternus, who seemed so at home on stage (both live and in the pre-recorded bits), pulled a bit of a head fake, talking about an Intelligent Personal Hub that for a moment sounded like a mythical AI wearable (iGlasses, anyone?). In reality, he was talking about the iPhone.

Ternus told me the company is not changing any strategy on wearables (AI or otherwise). After all, it has the AirPods and the Apple Watch, which are more AI-infused than ever. But he also made it clear that screens will remain an important part of the business, mainly because that's Apple's answer to customer demand.

"People want displays. You want to see information. You know, humans process information way more effectively visually than through audio. And so, having a display is amazing, and it fits in your pocket. And so, we don't see the phone losing significance in any way, shape, or form."

When I asked, though, about the missing iPhone 18 base model, Jozwiak reminded me that the Apple "Surprise and Shine" event was "the day to celebrate these new products."

I guess that's true. The iPhone 18 would've been less exciting and maybe less able to perform some of the feats now possible across Apple's myriad AI-enabled devices, and certainly would pale in comparison to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo. But this keynote was also, in fact, a sort of elevated event. It wasn't just about the new gear. It was also about the new CEO, and Ternus delivered the exciting goods in the most Apple way.

"I think, you look across our whole portfolio and the beauty of Apple is its hardware, software, services and what I love is when all of these things kind of come together and interact and create an experience that is just bigger than the sum of its parts."

Ternus is now a bigger part of that equation, which could make Apple's next epoch even bigger than the last.

Catch the rest of the John Ternus interview on Tom's Guide

It took years, but Apple finally gave the world its first foldable phone — the iPhone Duo — at its Surprise and Shine event earlier this week. The Duo steps into a busy foldables market, with one particular model primed to give it a run for its money: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The Z Fold 8 is the latest in a long line of Galaxy foldables, and Apple's first foldable bears a number of similarities to Samsung's passport-shaped device. But for anyone considering investing in either the Z Fold 8 or iPhone Duo, there are a number of key differences to be aware of.

There’s still a month to go until iPhone Duo preorders open, and even longer until the device begins shipping (October 23). But still, there’s no time like the present to check out seven major areas in which the iPhone Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 differ.

A dollar disparity

The first notable difference between the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 is how much they cost.

The iPhone Duo retails for $1,999 /£1,999 / AU$3,499, which is significantly more than the Galaxy Z Fold 8's $1,899 / £1,699 / AU$2,699 (at least in certain regions), with both phones starting with the same 256GB of storage. If you want the best deal on a wide foldable, Samsung has the clear advantage.

Diverging displays

Both Samsung and Apple have gone for roughly the same shapes for their respective foldable displays, but with a small size difference. The iPhone Duo uses a 7.6-inch main inner display and a 5.4-inch outer display. The Galaxy Z Fold 8’s inner display also measures 7.6 inches across, but its outer screen is marginally larger at 5.5 inches.

There’s also an interesting split in how Samsung and Apple have treated the material in their phones' screens. The iPhone Duo uses a matte-like nano-texture display instead of a glossier, anti-glare coating like the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Both materials serve the same purpose — to make the screen easier to read under bright light. But which one is better remains to be seen at this point.

Apple has also given the iPhone Duo stylus support on both displays, via the Apple Pencil USB-C. Samsung used to offer stylus support on its foldables, but unfortunately for wannabe doodlers, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 does not work with any of Samsung’s S Pens.

Different designs and mismatching materials

Despite their similar passport shapes, the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 do differ quite significantly in terms of design.

The iPhone Duo, for instance, has four rounded corners when open, but when closed, it has two right-angled corners on the hinge side. Samsung, by contrast, has gone with pointed corners all around on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which arguably gives it a more cohesive look.

For side rail materials, it’s a case of polished titanium on the iPhone Duo versus matte aluminum on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Both look great on their respective phones, but which finish is better will be up to the viewer.

These two phones also use different display materials to shore up their durability. Apple has equipped the Duo with its own Ceramic Shield 2 toughened glass on the front, and the original Ceramic Shield on the back. Samsung instead uses Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 to protect the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s front and back, respectively.

Apple has also equipped the iPhone Duo with the same Camera Control key that you find on other iPhones, making the edges of the phone surprisingly busy. Samsung lacks equivalents for these buttons on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which simply offers a power button and volume controls.

Interestingly, the iPhone Duo is some 53g heavier than the Z Fold 8 (254g vs 201g), but it does offer IP68 water and dust resistance, while the Z Fold 8 only offers IP48-level protection.

The last thing to mention is color options. The iPhone Duo comes in either Star White or Night Sky (deep blue), while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a wider selection of Lavender, Graphite, Cream, and Pistachio.

SIM support split

When it comes to actually adding your phone number to one of these phones, there’s an important difference to consider here too. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 offers a physical SIM slot as well as eSIM support for virtual numbers. However, the iPhone Duo is eSIM-only worldwide.

You can easily convert a regular SIM into an eSIM during phone set-up. But unless you re-request a SIM card from your carrier, you’ll be locked into the eSIM way of life from then on.

Branching battery tech

Since Apple doesn’t publish its battery sizes itself, we don’t know right now what the capacity of the iPhone Duo is. Instead, Apple says its internal testing reveals the iPhone Duo is capable of 31 hours of video playback when using the inner display, 44 hours when just using the outer display, or “all-day” battery life when it comes to general use.

Samsung’s testing promise for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is 26 hours of video playback, which sounds like it’s inferior to Apple's on paper. However, without doing consistent battery testing on both phones, we don’t yet know for sure which phone will last longer in the real world.

For refuelling, Apple claims the iPhone Duo can charge up to 50% full in 20 mins with a compatible wired charger, or 30 minutes with a MagSafe or Qi2 wireless charger. Samsung’s claim is a 63% wired charge in 30 minutes, which doesn’t quite map onto Apple’s information either. This will also require some of our own testing to figure out which device charges faster.

Contrasting cameras

The iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 each have four cameras, serving the same purposes. But there are some technical differences to pay attention to.

On the back of the iPhone Duo, Apple has stuck with its typical 48MP main and 48MP ultra-wide combination. That puts the Duo at a small resolution disadvantage compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which boasts two rear 50MP cameras.

However, things change for front-facing cameras. Samsung uses 10MP front cameras on the inside and outside of the Z Fold 8, but Apple uses one higher-res 12MP front camera on the outer display, and an under-display inner camera of currently unknown resolution.

Samsung used to use this kind of camera on its older Galaxy Z Folds, but the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a more typical punch-hole cutout, removing a bit of the display but guaranteeing higher-quality shots. Maybe Apple has worked out how to take clear, attractive photos through display layers, but it’s not something we’ve seen any other company manage, even after the technology has existed for several years.

Potentially polarized performance

The silicon inside the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a known quantity. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy has appeared in other premium Samsung phones this year, including the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and it’s a monstrously powerful chipset.

The iPhone Duo contains Apple’s brand-new A20 Pro chip. Since it’s fresh out of the foundry, we will have to wait for test results to know if it’s more powerful, less powerful, or about the same as the Snapdragon silicon in the Z Fold 8.

We don’t know if there’s any RAM capacity difference, but for storage, you can get 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions of both the iPhone Duo and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. However, Apple also offers a 2TB edition of the iPhone Duo if you want even more space for your files.

Based on these differences, would you rather buy the iPhone Duo or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8? Let us know in the comments below.

• Hands-on images show a visible crease on the new iPhone Duo
• It can be seen when the device is held at certain angles and in different lighting
• While Apple hasn't quite solved this common issue, its nano-texture layer significantly helps to reduce visibility

Apple finally unveiled the iPhone Duo at its ‘Surprise and Shine’ event, its first device in the foldable phone market, and from our first hands-on experiments with it I have to say, it looks rather impressive.

And yes, Apple has taken its sweet time to launch its first foldable (Samsung was ahead of the game in 2019 with the first Galaxy Fold device), but that’s likely due to Apple’s determination to solve one of the most annoying setbacks with folding phones — the display crease.

In the build-up to the iPhone Duo announcement, rumors suggested that the device’s folding display wouldn’t come with a visible crease. However, early hands-on images appear to show that Apple might not have quite got the results it was looking for.

It hasn’t even been 24 hours since the iPhone Duo was announced, and Redditors are already pointing out its partially visible crease, which you can see when the device is held at different angles and in certain lighting (see below).

I’m not one to be picky, but despite the matte smoothness of the folding nano-texture display — which helps to significantly reduce the visibility of the crease — there’s a clear vertical dip that runs through the centre of the iPhone Duo’s 7.6-inch screen. Apple knew this would be one of the most-asked questions, and the company has come equipped with all the answers you could need on the iPhone Duo product page.

‘iPhone Duo features a wonderfully flat and smooth inner display with custom nano-texture finish technology to reduce glare and reflections for an uninterrupted viewing experience. The optically clear adhesives let the display layers glide as the screen folds, minimising stress and creasing’.

Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t quite hit the nail on the head with overcoming one of the biggest obstacles with folding phones, but at the same time, eliminating the crease entirely is almost an impossible task. Think about it: if you’re constantly folding and unfolding the device several times a day, then this is going to have an obvious visual impact on the device over time — which is the case for all foldables.

Luckily for Apple, it appears that users aren’t entirely concerned with the slight visibility of the iPhone Duo’s crease.

Several owners of foldable phones shared on Reddit that once you’ve used a foldable for some time, the crease becomes invisible to you simply because you just get used to it being there. Others have been a bit more abrasive: ‘I'll never understand the people who make the crease a big deal,’ one user added, while another simply commented ‘I have a folding phone. The crease is a complete non-issue’. They must be a Galaxy Fold owner, surely.

Criticism aside, our first hands-on with the iPhone Duo was far from a let down. Our Editor-at-Large, Lance Ulanoff, recalls having very minimal issues with the device’s crease. From our first-look images, the crease is unidentifiable when the phone is held face-on, and the matte display helps to get rid of that annoying glare.

For its first foldable phone I have to say, Apple has done pretty much all it can for it to join the folding device market seven years behind its biggest rivals. Despite the lack of features such as Face ID and Action Button, the iPhone Duo looks like a solid beginning for Apple’s next big venture — even if I’m not the biggest fan of the name.

• The iPhone Duo animation has been recreated on a Galaxy Z Fold 8
• For now, it's only a demo — not something you can set up yourself
• Samsung would need to implement the hack for it to work system-wide

The initial reactions to Apple's new, foldable iPhone Duo seem to be largely positive, with a lot of praise for the various software tweaks that have been implemented in iOS 27 for the new form factor — including a cool transition animation that shows up when you switch between the inner and outer screens.

As you open up or close the main 7.6-inch display, the wallpaper dissolves and seems to pass through the moving half of the screen to reappear on the other side. It's a neat effect, and one Android user has wasted no time in recreating the effect on their Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 foldable.

"Felt a bit of FOMO seeing that cool iPhone Duo animation Apple showed off today, so I poked around and found that the Z Fold 8 has a really accurate hinge sensor," explains the user in question on Reddit. "I realized it would be pretty simple to take the hinge sensor values and use them to drive a transition animation on both screens."

It works really nicely too, as you can see from the video embedded above. The half of the display that's opening and closing looks like it becomes semi-transparent as it moves, revealing what's underneath — though as with the iPhone Duo, it's all trickery involving motion sensors and gradients.

Over to you, Samsung

Unfortunately, this is only a demo for now — as in, an app that screenshots the display, then shows how an open/close animation could potentially work. It's not actually something you can apply at the system level and use across all your apps, and the developer says only Samsung would have the necessary access for that.

The reactions in the Reddit thread are overwhelmingly positive, nevertheless. The hack gets described at various points as "great", "awesome", and "so cool" — and it's genuinely impressive that it was created so soon after Apple's event. It seems a lot of Samsung foldable owners would want this on their phones.

There is perhaps a word of warning here for iPhone Duo buyers. When asked about using the effect, the original poster says "honestly, it looks cool for the first minute, but it gets really annoying after that", adding that "the effect is also only convincing head on" and "any difference in viewing angles really breaks the illusion".

Whether or not that's the case on Apple's foldable remains to be seen, but it's worth considering. For the time being at least, the iPhone Duo is the only folding handset that has this particular animation — and if you've really got to have it, pre-orders open on Friday, October 16, with prices starting at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499.

• Apple’s announced new Pro controls and Photographic Styles for iPhone
• They’re limited to the new iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro and series
• But Apple is extending its free satellite coverage for older iPhones

I take a lot of photos on my iPhone, so watching Apple’s iPhone Duo event yesterday, I was naturally intrigued by the news of fresh Photographic Styles and the introduction of Pro controls, both of which give you more power over your smartphone images. But it now looks like there’s a serious catch that wasn’t apparent at the time of the event.

In the hours since newly instated Apple CEO John Ternus wound down his keynote speech, iPhone fans have taken to social media to point out that both Pro controls and the third-generation Photographic Styles are limited to the current batch of iPhones.

Specifically, you’ll only be able to access them if you have an iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max or an iPhone Duo. Users of last year’s iPhone 17 series — or anything released before that — will be shut out of the new features.

And that’s a shame, because they look like they could be a real boon for photography enthusiasts. Pro controls include useful tools to adjust white balance, manually tweak aperture and shutter speeds, consult histograms, and more. Photographic Styles, meanwhile, are handy presets and filters you can apply to your images and now come with precise controls for grain and texture. But if you don’t have one of the latest iPhones, they’ll be out of reach.

Extended satellite coverage

Despite this disappointing development, it wasn’t all bad news for owners of older iPhones. After the event, it emerged that Apple has quietly extended its free satellite connectivity features for another year, and that applies all the way back to the iPhone 14.

Specifically, you’ll get another year of satellite coverage if you have any device from the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 ranges, despite the fact that this deal was meant to have expired for these devices. Apple originally launched its satellite features for the iPhone 14 in 2022 and said that product would get two years of coverage, but has instead repeatedly extended its free terms for the iPhone 14 as well as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16.

This extension applies to features including Emergency SOS via satellite, Messages via satellite, Find My via satellite, and Roadside Assistance via satellite. There’s no news regarding how much Apple might charge if it ever decides to end its free coverage, but now that’s not something you’ll have to worry about for at least another year.

With these features remaining free for the time being, owners of older iPhones have been granted a little ray of tech sunshine. Apple might be gatekeeping new Photographic Styles and Pro controls behind its latest devices, but the arguably more important satellite tools still won’t require a pricey upgrade.

So no, neither of these fold, but the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max still feel like modern-day flagship smartphones after my quick hands-on right after Apple’s Surprise and Shine event.

While neither flagship device carries the mystique and intrigue of the iPhone Duo, both march forward with a laundry list of features and enhancements that will push the iPhone into the future for many.

As someone who’s spent a lot of time reviewing the entry-level iPhones, like the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16, which normally get the fun new colors, I was instantly struck by the new shades. Immediately, Burgundy for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max stood out — it’s a lovely dark shade of red that can shimmer a bit depending on how the light hits it, and it's definitely less of a pop than Cosmic Orange, but it's really just lovely.

Back in black

There’s also Glacier, a light blue that can come across as bluish silver depending on how the light hits it — and it was the color of the invite for Apple’s Special Event. Black, in a very matte, dark fashion, is back as a Pro color option alongside silver.

Aside from that, these new phones look and feel very much like the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max in your hand — not a bad thing, as that ushered in a slightly sturdier build with the larger camera plateau.

Arguably the biggest hardware change lives here, though, and it’s variable aperture — which you can actually see in action, opening and closing, with your own eyes — for the 48-megapixel main Fusion camera. This should give the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max a leg up in low light, as you can adjust — either manually with Pro Controls or by letting the iPhone set it automatically — aperture, shutter speed, and white balance.

You can pick between a set of four — ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0 — apertures for the main lens and, depending on your pick, you can let more light in or less, so it handles multiple depths for subjects in one shot more effectively.

I played around with these and the new Pro Controls interface at the top of the camera app, and here’s the good news: it’s fully customizable, so you can place what is most helpful there.

I didn’t have much time with it, but it’s clear it does open and close the aperture window on the back of the phone, so it moves as Apple describes. You have way more controls now over your photos so you can get closer to what you’re really after. It's also coupled with enhancements to Photographic Styles that will let you add in texture or grain, as well as AI-infused photo editing features as part of iOS 27.

This 48-megapixel main camera with variable aperture is paired with a 48-megapixel telephoto lens and a 48-megapixel ultra-wide lens. This means that the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max can still shoot from 0.5x to 8x optical, and up to 40x digitally. So while the iPhone Duo folds, the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max do still pack the Pro-grade camera system.

On the front, there’s still the impressive CenterStage Camera and Face ID stack with all the nifty features that the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max ushered in, but the change is a dramatically smaller Dynamic Island. And it’s not a case of shrinking it for shrinking’s sake either — the increased screen real estate around the smaller island that’s centered at the top lets it show up to three Live Activities at once, and each of these can show a bit more detail.

For instance, if you have music playing at the top and a timer next to it, you previously couldn’t actually see how much time is left — that’s fixed now. I tried a mix of these — tossing Flighty, Maps, Music, Timer, and other apps at the top — and I do believe this will be genuinely useful. I’m not sure it’s an immediate reason to upgrade from, say, a 17 Pro, but those who swear by the Dynamic Island won’t be disappointed.

Those are the most evident changes I noticed from a brief hands-on, and it’s a toss-up for me between the Burgundy and Glacier shades and the camera upgrades for my favorite new feature. iOS 27 ran really smoothly on the unit I used in the hands-on space Apple provided, and that’s likely thanks to the two-nanometer A20 Pro chip under the hood. It’s Apple’s fastest yet and features ‘Super Cores’ in the CPU, much like Apple’s M-Class silicon for the Mac lineup.

It’s also paired with a new thermal architecture that includes a larger vapor chamber, which should keep the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max a bit cooler, especially around the raised camera plateau on the back. Perhaps the biggest change I didn’t get to test is the longer battery-life promise. The 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max were no slouches in this department by any means, but Apple’s running laps year over year, with the 18 Pro now lasting as long as last year's 17 Pro Max and the 18 Pro Max going even further.

There’s a $100 price increase for these new devices in the United States — the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB and the 18 Pro Max at $1,299 for 256GB. That’s a $100 increase generation over generation, and you can pay more to configure these up to 2TB. Both go up for preorder on September 12, 2026, and launch on September 18, 2026. There will be both carrier deals and the Apple Upgrade Financing route.

I’ll need to spend more time with both to see how much those changes actually matter in everyday use, but after this first hands-on, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max feel like a continuation of what Apple started with the 17 Pro generation rather than a complete rethink.

And honestly, that’s not a bad thing. The hardware still feels premium in hand, the new colors are excellent, the smaller Dynamic Island looks genuinely useful, and the variable aperture is the one change that immediately made me want to spend more time with the camera.

The iPhone Duo may have the flashier story this year, but the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max still feel very much like the flagship iPhones to beat – and I’m especially curious to see what that camera can actually do once I get them out of Apple's hands-on area and into the real world.

Apple has officially entered the folding phone market with the passport-sized and quite attractive iPhone Duo. I know, we all thought it would be called the Ultra, but perhaps Apple will save that superlative for another day (or product).

In some ways, the iPhone Duo is exactly what we expected. A 5.4-inch external display and a large 7.6-inch internal or main, unfolded one. The size, shape, and specs are somewhat similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. But there are several exciting differences.

Folded and in my hand, the iPhone Duo feels, quite honestly, nothing like any iPhone that's come before it. Heck, Apple even redesigned iOS to accommodate the unusually shaped displays, putting the dock and other controls on the right side (no word on whether you can move them to the other side). For larger screens, that might make everything more thumb accessible.

The 5.4-inch external display is bright, sharp, and features a Center Stage camera (not in the center of the display, despite the name).

As with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the shape does take some getting used to, but Apple's decision to use curved chrome edges and curves on the right side (when you open it, you see four rounded corners) serves the device well. It's comfortable to hold.

I wasn't entirely successful at folding and unfolding with one hand, but I did do it easily with two and noted the solid feel of the hinge and that I could open and close it to varying degrees. It's hard to believe that this is also an IP68 (for dust and water resistance) device — but Apple does love its challenges.

The 7.6-inch main display, though, is astonishing. Apple went a little wild on the layering, mixing in numerous sheets of custom polymer, the OLED panel, a couple of glass layers, and a titanium backing (all held together with flexible glue that lets them slide back and forth against each other), but the really exciting part is the topmost layer.

The texture layer

When I talk to folding phone curious consumers, they all ask me the same thing: "Is there a crease?" Look, I explain: these are folding devices, and the engineering has to accommodate the folding without breaking any of the various layers and, yes, the thin glass. There has to be a tiny bit of curvature remaining when you unfold.

Even on the excellent Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the crease is slightly perceptible in certain lighting.

The crease is gone on the iPhone Duo. I can feel it with my finger, but cannot see it, because Apple decided to put a special nano-texture covering on the main display. This has the effect of dispersing the light, especially around any spots where, normally, the crease might be visible.

This also gives that big screen a matte finish that looks and feels unusual in the smartphone space, is unheard of for a foldable, and is generally lovely. I was seriously impressed.

Let's play

I didn't get a ton of time with this star of the show, but what I saw bodes well for Apple's first folding device.

Apple really thought through, for instance, the handoff from the cover screen to the main display. I tried this with a game and with Netflix, where I'd open the app on the cover screen and then slowly open the iPhone Duo: the handoff from one screen to the other is perfection, a precision of connection that should please users and might excite anyone who ever wondered, "Why buy a folding phone?"

I briefly played a console-level game on it, which showed off the fresh power of the new 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, and took photos with all the cameras, including the 48MP main and 48MP ultrawide with 2x optical zoom. On the latter, I'm not thrilled that I get just 2x zoom, but at least it's optical. Also, it's pretty clear that this thinner-than-the-iPhone Air (when unfolded) probably can't accommodate a longer telephoto lens.

There are a variety of settings for managing the cover screen and cameras so that, for instance, you can use the former as a viewfinder for the best camera for top-notch selfies.

The main screen also hides a new FaceTime Camera, which I noticed effectively disappeared when you're not using it.

I love that you can set up the iPhone Duo as a desktop clock, though I noticed that it wasn't entirely obvious how you put it in StandBy mode without docking it or putting it to sleep.

The main screen is also big enough for multitasking, and I tried my hand at splitting it between Photos and Messages: you drag an app into a side dock, and then it opens on one side. After I opened Photos and Messages, I dragged and dropped a photo into a message. It was a smooth operation.

The reorganization of the iOS interface might throw some, but it made intuitive sense to me as I was playing with the iPhone Duo. I found, though, that the Control Panel still works the same way as it does on other iPhones.

Oh, the Pencil

Two other things of note. The iPhone Duo will be the first iPhone to work with the USB-C Apple Pencil. That is a huge deal. I've been complaining for a while that the wonderful Galaxy Z Fold line lost that digitizing layer.

I cannot wait to try the Apple Pencil on that big screen (there were no Pencils in the demo space). I bet the nano-coating will even make a difference in how the Pencil feels on the Display. I do not yet know if the iPhone Duo will also accept Apple Pencil Pro input, though I hope it does.

The other thing is that, yes, the iPhone Duo includes MagSafe. There are, by the way, two batteries that are promising "all-day" battery life.

This is also Apple's most expensive iPhone, starting at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499 for the 256GB model. Naturally, Apple will tell you it'll be far more obtainable with a trade-in and the new leasing option (pay a fixed monthly sum for two years and then return it for a new one),

Overall, this is an exciting start for Apple's first foray into foldables. Sure, it stands on the shoulders of giants, but as is often the case, Apple's done all this in a very Apple-ly way, and in this case, that looks like a very good thing.

Apple has announced the iPhone Duo, its first-ever folding phone, calling it “the most transformational iPhone experience since the original.” Like every other tech fan in the world right now, I want one.

As detailed in our Apple Event 2026 recap, Apple has decked out its first foldable with a range of high-spec specs befitting the phone’s Duo branding and new ‘Intelligent Personal Hub’ concept.

It gets a 5.4-inch cover display, a 7.6-inch inner display, and an A20 Pro chipset. It also comes with a 48MP wide-angle camera, a 48MP ultra-wide camera, a 12MP selfie camera on the cover screen, and an under-display camera under the inner screen. Apple also claims the iPhone Duo lasts up to 24 hours on a single charge when both screens are used equally. Put simply, this thing is a beast.

I’ll say it right now — I want the iPhone Duo more than I’ve ever wanted a folding phone. I’ve used plenty of the best folding phones in my time as a tech journalist, penning TechRadar’s Honor Magic V5 review and Oppo Find N5 review, but the iPhone Duo’s combination of Apple finesse and futuristic form factor has put it squarely at the top of my shopping list — now all I need is a spare $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499.

However, the iPhone Duo comes with some caveats that could upset long-time Apple fans. It lacks Face ID, a staple since 2017. It also loses the Action Button, which you'll find on all but a few iPhones released since the iPhone 15 Pro launched in 2023. And it misses out on the telephoto camera boasted by its sibling, the iPhone 18 Pro, and similar zoom lenses sported by competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

Even if you don’t use these features much, some Apple fans are bound to feel let down by the fact that the iPhone Duo misses out on key hardware found on cheaper models. But I’m not one of these people — here are five reasons why I still want the iPhone Duo more than any other folding phone.

Ecosystem and software

It’s been said a million times, but I’ll say it once more — Apple’s ecosystem prowess is not to be underestimated. Despite a few wobbles with the launch of iOS 26 last year, the Apple ecosystem is still the cleanest, least ad-infested, and most seamless software environment on the consumer tech market.

Having a folding phone join the fray gives Apple the opportunity to merge the function of the iPhone and iPad in new ways, bringing together the company’s experience across mobile and tablet development. We saw this during the Duo's announcement — Apple has created a fluid transition between folded and open states with a seamless Liquid Glass animation; it's moved core controls to the right side of the screen for easier access; and it's optimized all of its own apps for the Duo's new form factor. And, of course, the Duo is still keyed in to AirDrop, AirPlay, and other Apple conveniences.

If Apple is sensible enough to equip the Duo with the iPad versions of productivity and creative apps like Pages and Final Cut Pro, the new device could be a genuine portable workstation like nothing Samsung or Google have ever released. Apple simply has access to better software than Android folding phones; it just has to leverage it.

The iPad legacy

On the subject of iPads, Apple has the best track record of any small tablet maker, bar none, thanks to the quality of the iPad mini, so the iPhone Duo already has a model of success to follow. Our list of the best tablets highlights the iPad mini as the best compact tablet, and has done so for years.

We saw the iPhone Duo used in split-screen mode during the keynote, with Apple showing off optimized apps from Netflix, Slack, and Detail, and telling us all about the performance of the A20 Pro mobile chipset. Considering the MacBook Neo, a full-on laptop, runs on an A18 chipset from two generations back, I’m pretty confident that the iPhone Duo will be as powerful as any true tablet bar the M-series iPads.

I’ve used and reviewed tablets from other manufacturers, and while I’ve been impressed on occasion, these devices typically come nowhere close to the iPad’s smooth performance and software optimization. And other folding phones have to contend with some jank as phone makers try to make the Android and off-the-shelf chipsets play ball with their specific screen size, resolution, and processing requirements.

Apple's display pedigree

What good is software without decent hardware to experience it on?

The iPhone Duo comes with two screens that share the same 10:14 aspect ratio, offering more consistency than taller foldables, with a nano-textured upper layer laser-lithographed to create a lens for each pixel. Apple also claims that the screen “doesn’t degrade over time” due to a system of layered polymers that slide over one another as the screen moves.

As folding phone screens are known to peel and wear down, I won't pass judgment on the folding inner screen until I see it in person, but the excellence of Apple's previous iPhone and iPad displays gives me faith (at least when it comes to quality).

Build quality

Apple spent plenty of time in the keynote talking about iPhone Duo’s durability. The phone is made of glass, ceramic inserts, and grade 5 titanium, and achieves the IP68 dust and water resistance that Samsung and Google only recently achieved with their foldable devices. Also, its larger vapor chamber means it offers 35% better sustained performance than iPhone 18 Pro, by Apple’s own metrics.

In fairness, Samsung and Google build folding phones exceptionally well too — but even at the sky-high prices foldables command, this isn’t a given. I’ve used some folding phones that wobble around when partially opened, don’t stay fully shut, or show signs of screen peeling after just a few weeks of use. Apple will still have to earn my trust with the iPhone Duo, but the keynote suggests its engineering teams are on top form.

The missing features aren't *that* important

Comment section debaters, get ready. Part of the reason I still want the iPhone Duo is that its missing features just don’t matter that much — at least to me.

While the iPhone Duo does lose Face ID, I’ve always preferred in-button fingerprint scanners to any other kind of biometric security — they’re faster, easier to use, and won’t get blocked by a scarf or sunglasses. I love the scanner on my Oppo Find N6, for example.

I think I’d miss the Action Button and telephoto camera, but these don’t preclude the iPhone Duo’s software potential. With the iPhone Duo’s wide unfolded form factor, I can see why Apple ditched the button, as it may not be useful when the phone is unfolded.

And TechRadar Phones Editor Axel Metz made peace with the iPhone Air’s single camera, so I’m sure the iPhone Duo’s dual camera system would be perfectly usable, even without the reach of the zoom lenses found on competing foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

So, for me, Apple's first foldable iPhone was worth the wait — at least on paper. I can't wait to get my hands on one and put it through its paces.

Apple has unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and its September 9 'Surprise and Shine' event, but how does it stack up against last year’s mighty iPhone 17 Pro?

Among other things here’s the powerful new A20 Pro chip, and the main camera’s new variable aperture, but these mean the iPhone 18 Pro costs a little more than its older sibling.

If you’re weighing up the two iPhone Pros, these are the five key differences you’ll need to consider before you make your choice…

1. Variable aperture

If you care about photography this is easily the biggest iPhone 18 Pro feature: variable aperture.

Normally phone camera apertures are locked, meaning the aperture has to strike a compromise between maximizing depth of field and maximizing night and low-light performance by letting more light in. With its variable aperture the iPhone 18 Pro’s 48MP fusion main camera solves this problem by adapting to meet your needs for each shot.

The iPhone 17 Pro lacks this capability, though its camera array is still very solid, even if it lacks the latest model’s versatility.

2. Battery life and specs

As you’d expect, the iPhone 18 pro boasts better specs thanks to its A20 Pro chip. According to Apple its CPU’s two supercores are 20% faster than what you’ll find in the iPhone 17 Pro, and its GPU is 40% faster. It also boasts improved neural accelerators for better AI performance — meaning on-device Siri AI assistance should feel snappier than before.

The change you’ll notice the most, though, is the bigger battery.

While the iPhone 17 Pro achieved a 33-hour battery life in Apple’s internal video playback tests, the 18 Pro managed to last for 36 hours — the same length of time as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If you were wondering, the iPhone 18 Pro Max can hold out for a whopping 45 hours.

3. iPhone Pro colors

The iPhone 18 Pro comes in classic Silver and Black, as well as Glacier (a sort of lilac) and Burgundy if you want a more bold and unique look for your new smartphone.

Meanwhile the iPhone 17 Pro comes in Silver, a dark Deep Blue, and that Cosmic Orange hue that people either love or hate.

I was a big fan of Cosmic Orange, but Burgundy takes the cake for me. It looks iconic without looking silly or sickly — traps the orange could sometimes fall into. Though this design choice will be entirely personal, and let’s be real — you’ll probably just put it in a case anyway, whichever model you get.

4. Dynamic Island

As was teased by leaks ahead of the reveal, the iPhone 18 pro boasts a smaller Dynamic Island — which should make it a less annoying permanent distraction on your screen compared with the iPhone 17 Pro’s Island.

At the same time it has become a little more versatile too. The iPhone 18 pro’s Dynamic Island can now support three live activities at once, up from the previous maximum of two.

5. Price and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro was only just revealed, but it’ll be up for sale globally at $1,199 / £1.199 / AU$2,099 for 256GB of storage from September 18, 2026. You can preorder starting Saturday September 12 to lock in a unit early if you decide it’s the smartphone for you.

Meanwhile the iPhone 17 Pro can be picked up right now with a lower list price of $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,999.

On paper that $100 difference isn't major, but given that the iPhone 17 Pro is a year old we can expect to see its price drop further, especially as we head into the Black Friday sales period. And with Apple hiking prices of its other iPhone 17 models on the Apple Store by $100 / £100, the 17 Pro — which has been discontinued, so won't be affected — suddenly looks like a relative bargain.

After watching Apple's iPhone Duo launch I was struck by one detail — its support for the Apple Pencil, which makes it the first iPhone to support the device.

When Steve Jobs launched the iPhone in 2007 he famously posed the rhetorical question “Who wants a stylus?”. His argument was that you already have the best stylus you’d ever need with you at all times — your fingers.

Touchscreen displays have gone on to dominate smartphone and tablet design, and have proved far superior to the stylus as a way of navigating a software interface; but the humble stylus has always had its advocates, and it has never really gone away.

Some Samsung devices in particular can be used with a stylus — the S Pen. And, of course, Apple eventually capitulated and introduced the Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro, turning the tablet into a digital drawing pad for illustrators, artists and anyone who simply likes to sketch out ideas.

Perhaps I should clarify that Apple's first successful stylus was the Apple Pencil (2nd edition), rather than the original Apple Pencil. The original Apple Pencil had a terrible design that meant you had to remove a tiny, easily lost cap to charge it, and worse, the Pencil’s Lightning connector plugged directly into the iPad. That left the Pencil sticking precariously out of the tablet, so it was easy to knock, and seemingly designed to snap either the connector or the iPad’s port at some point. It also had no built-in way to attach securely to the iPad for storage.

In terms of Apple’s design failures, the original Apple Pencil is right up there with the Apple Magic Mouse, which has the charging port placement underneath, so it can’t be charged and used at the same time. Amazingly, that’s still the current design of the Magic Mouse, but Apple quickly did something about the Apple Pencil.

The Apple Pencil was fixed with the second-generation, which was released alongside a redesigned iPad Pro in 2018. Instead of plugging directly into the iPad’s Lightning port (such a bad idea) it attached magnetically to the iPad’s side, where it effortlessly paired, charged wirelessly and stayed stored. That eliminated both the precarious protruding connector and the removable cap.

Turning in his grave?

So would Steve Jobs really be turning in his grave right now to know that Apple’s new phone works with its stylus? I’m not so sure.

I went back and watched ​​the original iPhone keynote from 2007. Talking about styluses Jobs said, “Yuck! Who wants a stylus? You have to get ‘em, put ‘em away and you lose them. Nobody wants a stylus! [...] We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world. We’re going to use a pointing device that we’re all born with. We’re born with ten of them, we’re going to use our fingers. We’re going to touch this with our fingers.”

Looking back, we can forgive him some of the hyperbole about the stylus at the launch of the iPhone because he was introducing what, for many people watching, was previously unthinkable — a way of using a screen-based smartphone that relied on just your fingers, and he had a battle to win people over and a point to make. In the broadest sense, he was right — touchscreen displays have proved far superior to the stylus as a way of navigating an interface; but the stylus has never really gone away.

The iPhone Duo’s secret weapon

Of course, back in Apple’s history there was another device that had a stylus, the Apple Newton MessagePad. It launched in 1993, came with a plastic stylus for writing, tapping and using its much-mocked handwriting recognition software. Jobs killed off the Newton in 1998, shortly after his return to Apple.

Apple generally called the Newton’s stylus a pen, rather than giving it a standalone product name. So the Apple Pencil wasn’t Apple’s first stylus. It was the company’s return to pen input after Steve Jobs had famously ridiculed styluses when introducing the iPhone.

The Apple Pencil was introduced four years after Jobs’ death in 2015, but I think he would have approved. People genuinely seem to love the Apple Pencil, despite it still having some flaws (there’s no eraser on the other end, for example) and it could even be the secret weapon in Apple’s new iPhone Duo’s success.

The fact that you can use the Apple Pencil with the new iPhone Duo immediately locks Apple’s new foldable phone tightly into Apple's ecosystem of connected devices. The Apple Pencil is expensive, but a lot of iPhone Duo buyers will already own an Apple Pencil, because Apple households tend to have quite a number of Apple devices already in them. (It would be wise to check which version of the Apple Pencil you own though, since the Apple press release only says the "iPhone Duo will support Apple Pencil with USB-C).

And that’s what could make Apple Pencil support much more than another feature on the spec sheet. The iPhone Duo’s folding screen gives people a larger canvas, but the Pencil gives them a reason to use it — for drawing, handwriting, annotating documents and editing photos with precision. Jobs’s real objection was to a stylus you needed simply to operate a phone; on the iPhone Duo, your fingers would still handle that perfectly well, and the Pencil would step in when it was genuinely the better tool. Far from turning in his grave, I suspect Jobs might have appreciated the distinction.

• Apple introduced a mechanical aperture for the first time in an iPhone camera
• It's included in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max's main camera
• The hardware-based feature offers (limited) manual control over exposure and depth of field

In Apple's big iPhone 18 event, the headline upgrade in the new iPhone 18 camera, from my perspective as a professional photographer, is the company's first mechanical aperture ('variable aperture', as Apple likes to call it).

This feature is not only a first for Apple, it's a rarity in smartphones — Huawei equips several of its flagship devices with one, including its Pura 80 Ultra and other current models.

My 'proper' camera gear has this feature too — whether that's a premium compact camera like my Ricoh GR IV, or the lenses I pair with my pro Nikon mirrorless camera.

But what is a mechanical aperture, why would you want one, and how will it impact the camera experience in the latest crop of iPhones? Let's dive in.

What is aperture and why is it important?

Until now, all iPhones, and indeed the majority of smartphones, feature a fixed-lens aperture. The main camera in the iPhone 17 Pro, for example, has a bright f/1.78 aperture.

That just changed with the iPhone 18 Pro series, and its six mechanical aperture blades, which are thinner than a human hair, and made from a polymer composite.

When I'm using my proper camera gear, aperture tends to be the first manual exposure control I think about — for me it's the single most important camera setting for getting the image to look the way I want, and I change it based on what I'm photographing.

Aperture size determines how much light reaches the camera's sensor; a bigger aperture lets in more light (useful for capturing detail in low light, like at night), while a smaller aperture lets in less light (ideal for, say, a bright sunny day to avoid overly bright images).

Aperture also impacts depth of field; a bigger aperture equals shallower depth of field (useful for punchy portraits when you want to blur backgrounds), while a smaller aperture results in more of the scene being in sharp focus (which is what you might want for, say, landscape photography).

With no control over aperture size, and with small sensors, most phones including iPhone rely on computational photography (software-based) to get effects such as background blur or punchy low light shots — think the portrait and night settings on your phone.

A mechanical aperture, on the other hand, can be opened-up and closed-down, according to the scene you're capturing. The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra, for example, features a f/1.6-4.0 aperture main camera. The user can manually adjust how much light is reaching the sensor at the aperture level. (Shutter speed is the other main factor of exposure.)

Did iPhone cameras just get serious?

I want to be clear from the off — the smaller the sensor size, the less impactful a mechanical aperture is regarding depth of field control.

The iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max's sensor size appears to still be smaller than the 1-inch type in Chinese flagship's such as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Oppo Find X8 Ultra. As such, there's less need to close down the aperture to increase depth of field.

But you'll also notice that the iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max's mechanical aperture range starts at f/1.48 and can be closed down to f/4 — so there's more light entering compared to the previous generation of iPhones too. Apple says this makes it great for indoor portraits and astrophotography.

Exposure control and image sharpness are the big other benefits here, though. Stopping aperture down from f/1.48 to f/4 reduces the amount of light hitting the camera's sensor, and is certainly useful when shooting in bright light.

It enables slower shutter speeds, which is super handy for video recording which natively needs slower shutter speeds compared to photography for smooth motion (and Apple has added the ability to change the shutter speed when video recording), and even for long exposure effects.

A smaller aperture can also increase image quality because you're more likely to get more in focus, and you're using the sharpest central area of the lens, which should deliver the crispest possible detail, without the softness and lens distortion that you typically get with a wide open aperture.

I still expect that that the iPhone's computational skills deliver more obvious improvements in image quality, both creatively and technically.

Portrait mode convincingly blurs backgrounds. Night mode increases light hitting the sensor at a shutter speed level, paired nicely with processing that increases dynamic range and sharpens detail.

But a mechanical aperture is sure to please serious photographers and filmmakers shooting with iPhone. For certain users and situations, it takes on some of the work rather than software doing all of the heavy lifting, and providing us more control.

It's just unlikely to suddenly make your iPhone shots way better just on its own, but I'm excited for the extra control it gives me.

• Qualcomm has detailed its next flagship Snapdragon chipset
• It features a Hexagon NPU that reduces the reliance on RAM for AI tasks
• It also includes the world's first 5GHz mobile CPU

AI is transforming technology, but it’s also causing some real issues, especially with regard to RAM, which is now in high demand and short supply (cue spiraling RAM prices). But Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship smartphone chipset could help address this issue.

In a series of blog posts, the company has revealed that its new, as-yet-unnamed mobile silicon brings AI processing closer to the chipset, reducing its reliance on RAM in the process.

It achieves this in large part through a new Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit), which uses various techniques to power “larger-model-class AI experiences with low power consumption and memory requirements” so that AI on phones can be both responsive and private — in other words, it won’t need masses of RAM or to communicate with cloud servers so frequently.

As a result, it’s possible that phones will be able to keep up with growing AI demands without enormous RAM requirements, which in turn could help ease the RAM crisis.

Additionally, the Hexagon NPU includes an Element Accelerator that speeds up AI operations, and it has 50% more Large Shared Memory, which “helps keep model state, context, and KV-cache data closer to the accelerators, reducing trips to external memory and helping agents answer, revise, plan, and act with less waiting” for a smoother experience.

Big upgrades to the CPU and GPU as well

But the NPU is not the only significant selling point of this chipset, as Qualcomm also explained that its new silicon sports the world’s first 5GHz mobile CPU — which, unsurprisingly, means it’s also the world’s fastest mobile CPU.

This CPU also includes a new FlexCache feature, which reduces how often the cores need to reach system memory, helping ensure peak performance is maintained even when memory is limited — which, as with the changes to the NPU, could reduce reliance on RAM.

The GPU, meanwhile, is the largest generational leap yet for Qualcomm, promising major gains in graphics performance and power efficiency. And this element of the chipset helps with AI too, as it includes Adreno Matrix Cores, which are AI-dedicated GPU cores, “designed to run advanced AI models directly inside the graphics pipeline.”

It also includes Adreno Neural Fusion — an AI-driven rendering technology that improves visuals while reducing power consumption.

So, it sounds like this could be a comprehensive upgrade, and while Qualcomm hasn’t confirmed which phones will use this as-yet-unnamed chipset, it’s likely at least some models in the Samsung Galaxy S27 series will ship with it early next year, while other high-end Android handsets from Oppo, Xiaomi, and Honor could get it even sooner.