Usually, September brings a new standard iPhone, but this year was different — we didn’t get an iPhone 18, with that device reportedly set to land early next year instead.

As such, we’re in the odd situation of the iPhone 17 coexisting alongside the iPhone 18 Pro as a current-generation model in Apple's iPhone lineup.

It goes without saying that the iPhone 18 Pro is the better phone — it’s both newer and a Pro model, duh! — but just how much better is it really? And how much more does it cost? We’ve answered those questions in the comparison below.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: specs comparison

Before we examine every major detail of these phones, the chart below will give you a brief overview of their core specs and how they compare.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: price and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro was announced in September 2026, and it’s available now. This being an iPhone, you can buy it in most parts of the world too.

The cheapest version of the 18 Pro comes with 256GB of storage and costs $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099, but you can also get a model with 512GB of storage for $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,499, one with 1TB of storage for $1,799 / £1,799 / AU$3,299, or a massive 2TB configuration for $2,399 / £2,399 / AU$4,499.

The iPhone 17 launched a year earlier, in September 2025, and is similarly widely available. This device starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,549 for 256GB of storage, rising to $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,949 for 512GB of storage. But those are the only two configurations, so you can’t get the iPhone 17 with 1TB or 2TB.

That price, then, makes the iPhone 18 Pro $300 / £300 / AU$550 more expensive than the iPhone 17 in both their 256GB and 512GB configurations, with the iPhone 18 Pro getting more expensive still if you choose a 1TB or 2TB model.

Incidentally, the iPhone 17 was actually priced at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 at launch, but Apple increased its price following the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro in September, just as it raised the price of iPads and MacBooks in June due to "significantly higher memory costs."

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: design

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 don’t have drastically different designs — both have flat screens protected with Ceramic Shield 2, and both feature a Dynamic Island cut-out near the top (though the iPhone 18 Pro’s cut-out is smaller and can display three Live Activities simultaneously, versus two on the iPhone 17).

Both also have aluminum frames, similarly curvy corners, and an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. But they differ a bit more from the back, as while the iPhone 17’s rear panel is made of glass, the iPhone 18 Pro has a glass panel surrounded by aluminum.

The iPhone 18 Pro also has a large, horizontal camera block, while the iPhone 17 has a smaller vertical one.

They differ in weight and dimensions, too, with the iPhone 18 Pro being larger and heavier at 150 x 71.9 x 8.8mm and 211g, while the iPhone 17 measures 149.6 x 71.5 x 8mm and weighs 177g.

They're also available in different colors: the iPhone 18 Pro comes in Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy, while the iPhone 17 comes in Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, and Lavender.

Still, these are both stylish, premium phones, with our iPhone 18 Pro review praising its “fantastic” new colors, and our iPhone 17 review praising that phone's “durable build” — though in both reviews, we noted that they look similar to their predecessors, so there’s not much new here.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: display

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 both have a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen with a 1-120Hz refresh rate, a 1206 x 2622 resolution (coming in at roughly 460 pixels per inch), and brightness that peaks at 3,000 nits.

So, they’re basically identical here, with the only significant difference being that the iPhone 18 Pro has a smaller cut-out for its Dynamic Island — which, as mentioned, also allows it to display up to three Live Activities simultaneously, whereas the iPhone 17 is limited to two.

Still, this is a small difference, and both phones have great screens, with our iPhone 18 Pro review describing its display as “punchy, sharp, and smooth,” while our iPhone 17 review praised its “excellent visuals.”

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: cameras

With the iPhone 18 Pro, you get a 48MP wide camera with a variable aperture that can move between f/1.48 and f/4.0.

That variable aperture is arguably the main camera upgrade this year — it lets you control how much light gets into the main sensor, and therefore how much of a given background you want to keep in focus — but the phone also has a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, and a 48MP f/2.8 telephoto camera with 4x optical zoom and 8x ‘optical-quality’ zoom.

The iPhone 17, on the other hand, has a 48MP wide camera with a static f/1.6 aperture and a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view.

So the two phones have similar ultra-wide snappers, but the iPhone 17 doesn’t have a variable aperture on its wide camera, nor a dedicated telephoto lens, making it a far less versatile shooter — especially as it also lacks the pro camera controls offered by the iPhone 18 Pro.

Both phones, however, do have an 18MP f/1.9 Center Stage selfie camera that uses subject tracking to automatically keep you in the frame, and also lets you switch between portrait and landscape modes. All current-generation iPhones except the iPhone 17e have this same selfie camera.

When it comes to video, both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 17 can film 1080p video at up to 240fps — though the former can also shoot 4K video at up to 120fps, whereas the iPhone 17 tops out at 60fps there.

In our iPhone 18 Pro review, we said its cameras deliver “better detail, strong low-light performance, and excellent 4x and 8x zoom,” while in our iPhone 17 review, we praised its “two excellent cameras.” So both phones are good for photography, but the iPhone 18 Pro is clearly the better of the two.

iPhone 18 Pro camera samples

iPhone 17 camera samples

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: performance and software

The iPhone 18 Pro has an A20 Pro chipset paired with 12GB of RAM, while the iPhone 17 has an A19 chipset (not the ‘Pro’ version) paired with 8GB of RAM. So, for both chipset and RAM, the iPhone 18 Pro has a substantial edge.

Apple claims that the CPU and GPU in the A20 Pro are up to 20% and 60% faster, respectively, than the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro, so the gains are likely even larger versus the iPhone 17's A19 chipset. In other words, the 18 Pro is the more capable device for gaming, using AI, or whatever else you plan to do with your phone.

Still, the iPhone 17 is no slouch — our review said its A19 chip is “plenty fast for now and should last well into the future.” We said something similar about the iPhone 18 Pro, describing it as “fast, efficient, and ready for whatever comes next.” In truth, most people won't ever need as much power as the A20 Pro chipset offers, and the A19 remains a supremely capable chipset for everyday tasks and light mobile gaming.

For software, both phones currently run iOS 27, but the iPhone 17 originally shipped with iOS 26, so it might not be updated for as long (Apple pledges around seven years of updates to each new model).

The iPhone 17 also lacks a few software and AI features found on the iPhone 18 Pro, such as more expressive voices for Siri, which rely on the Pro’s better hardware. You can read more about those specific features in our Siri AI compatibility explainer.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: battery

The iPhone 18 Pro has a higher-capacity battery than the iPhone 17, with you getting either a 4,288mAh one (if you’re in the US or other regions that sell an eSIM-only model), or a 4,056mAh one elsewhere. The iPhone 17’s battery is a lower-capacity cell than either of those, at 3,692mAh in all regions.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that the iPhone 18 Pro also has better battery life than the iPhone 17. According to Apple, it can deliver up to 34 hours of video playback, while the iPhone 17 can manage 30.

In our reviews, we found that the iPhone 18 Pro exhibited “outstanding endurance,” while the iPhone 17 can “last all day.” So both are respectable here, but only the iPhone 18 Pro excels and will get you through a day-and-a-half of use.

And the Pro charges faster too — it can reach 50% charge in 15 minutes, according to Apple, with the iPhone 17 taking 20 minutes. Though if you use MagSafe, they both take 30 minutes.

iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17: verdict

Ultimately, the iPhone 18 Pro is a better phone than the iPhone 17 in most ways — it’s significantly more powerful, has more and better cameras, a longer-lasting battery, faster charging, and some software features the iPhone 17 lacks.

There’s little to choose between their screens, and they both have premium builds, but those are about the only areas where they’re close to equal.

However, the iPhone 18 Pro is also quite a lot more expensive than the iPhone 17, and while it’s better in most ways, the iPhone 17 is still no slouch. So you should ask yourself whether you really need all the Pro’s bells and whistles, because for a lot of people. the iPhone 17 will do just fine (even despite its price increase, it's still the best-value iPhone Apple has ever released).

The iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are the top non-foldable phones from Apple and Samsung, respectively. They both feature top-tier chipsets, big, beautiful screens, and several capable cameras — and they also cost a lot as a result.

But while, superficially, these two phones have a lot in common, they are, in many ways, quite different, so if you’re deciding between them in your search for the best phone of 2026, there are several factors to consider.

Below, then, we’ve detailed the specs and features of the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to give you a clearer idea of how they compare.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: specs comparison

Before we look closely at the key features of these two phones, here's how they stack up in terms of specs:

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: price and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro Max was launched in September 2026 and is now available globally, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra landed in February 2026 and is also now widely available across the world.

For pricing, the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,299, for which you get 256GB of storage. There are other options too, though, including $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,699 for 512GB, $1,899 / £1,899 / AU$3,499 for 1TB, and $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,699 for 2TB.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will set you back $1,299.99 / £1,279 / AU$2,199 for a 256GB model, $1,499.99 / £1,449 / AU$2,499 for 512GB, or $1,799.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,649 for 1TB.

So their starting prices are either similar or identical, depending on where you are, but as you move up the storage capacities, the gulf in price widens, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max being the more expensive model — and that’s before you even get to its 2TB configuration, which isn’t a capacity that's available for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: design

The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a similar design to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with a large camera island on the back (housing three lenses) and a Dynamic Island cut-out in the screen — though the latter has shrunk since the previous model.

The frame is made of aluminum, and the back has an aluminum section and a glass part. The phone is also water-resistant to depths of six meters for up to 30 minutes, and it measures 163.4 x 78 x 8.8mm and weighs 249g.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a slightly more angular design with less curvy corners, but it too has a large camera block on the back — though it’s arranged vertically, rather than horizontally as on the iPhone.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra also has a smaller punch-hole cut-out on its screen, and it uses aluminum for the frame and glass for the back. It has the same water resistance rating as the iPhone 18 Pro Max — namely IP68 — but it's only actually tested for depths of up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

The Ultra comes in at 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm and weighs 214g, so it’s actually lighter and slimmer than the iPhone 18 Pro Max — despite finding room for a slot to house its included S Pen Stylus.

Finally, their colors also differ, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max being sold in Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy shades, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is available in Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, and Pink Gold.

In our iPhone 18 Pro Max review, we described Burgundy and Glacier as being “two fantastic new colors”, but noted that little else had visually changed since the previous model, the iPhone 17 Pro.

In our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, we similarly noted that it’s an “incremental update that slims the phone down, makes it lighter, and just a little bit softer around the edges.”

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: display

The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch 1320 x 2868 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 3,000-nit peak brightness, and around 460 pixels per inch.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch 1440 x 3120 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 2,600-nit peak brightness, and roughly 500 pixels per inch.

So, the two phones have the same size screens, the same refresh rates, and both use OLED displays, but Samsung’s phone has a marginally higher pixel density, while Apple’s has a slightly higher peak brightness.

In our reviews, we praised both displays highly, saying that the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s was “punchy, sharp, and smooth”, and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s was “a fantastic 6.9-inch AMOLED that makes every image pop.”

In terms of their screen specs and quality, then, there’s little to choose between them, but the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a trick up its sleeve in the form of Privacy Display — a feature that blanks out some or all of the screen when not viewed front-on, so people can’t as easily snoop. This is a great feature that our reviewer called “a one-of-a-kind innovation that actually does what it promises.” The iPhone 18 Pro Max has no such feature.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: cameras

For a comprehensive breakdown of how the camera systems on these two phones compare, check out our detailed iPhone 18 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra comparison. In essence, though, both of these phones excel at photography.

Headlining the iPhone 18 Pro Max's camera array is a 48MP main sensor with a variable aperture that can move between f/1.48-4.0. That basically means you can control how much light gets into the sensor and therefore how much of your photo stays in focus — the more light you let in, the blurrier the background, and the less light you let in, the more of your scene stays in focus.

Variable apertures are a rarity on phones, and so the functionality of such a feature may take some getting used to if you've never played around with aperture before, but its existence on the iPhone 18 Pro Max gives you more creative control over your shots.

The iPhone also has a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, a 48MP f/2.8 telephoto with 4x optical zoom — plus 8x "optical-quality" reach — and an 18MP f/1.9 front-facing camera.

The latter also offers automatic subject tracking and the option to switch between portrait and landscape modes in one click, which is definitely a nice-to-have feature.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, meanwhile, has a 200MP f/1.4 main camera, a 50MP f/1.9 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, a 50MP f/2.9 telephoto offering 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto with 3x optical zoom, plus a 12MP f/2.2 camera on the front.

So you get an extra lens on the S26 Ultra, giving you more telephoto versatility, but there’s no variable aperture here.

iPhone

Samsung

In terms of photo quality, the iPhone 18 Pro tends to capture scenes as they are, using more neutral, realistic colors, while the Galaxy ups the saturation for slightly more stylized shots.

iPhone

Samsung

When it comes to zoom, the S26 Ultra is the more versatile shooter of the two, not only because you get two optical zoom distances instead of one, but also because it lets you zoom digitally up to 100x, while the iPhone stops at 40x.

To be honest, we'd never recommend zooming much beyond 30x anyway, but the Galaxy does at least give you the option to do so, and its 3 and 5x optical zoom ranges are slightly more usable than the iPhone’s 4x range.

iPhone

Samsung

Macro photography is pretty similar on both phones, though that aforementioned color difference does come back into play, and again, we'd choose the iPhone for selfies.

Remember: check out our detailed iPhone 18 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra comparison for more pictures and thoughts on how these two phones stack up in terms of photography.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: performance and software

Neither of these phones is lacking in power, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max having a top-end Apple A20 Pro chipset and 12GB of RAM, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a similarly capable Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and either 12GB of RAM or — in the 1TB model — 16GB.

Our iPhone 18 Pro Max review described its chipset as “incredibly fast, efficient, and ready for whatever comes next,” while our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review described the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as delivering “snappy performance in every task.”

Both phones also have a vapor chamber to help keep them cool under pressure, so there isn't much to choose between them in terms of gaming performance.

The same can't be said of their respective software.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max runs on iOS 27, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra runs on Android 17 (having originally shipped with Android 16).

The two OS packages are similarly accomplished — especially now that Apple has finally launched Siri AI — and both phones will likely receive many years of updates, with Samsung committing to seven major Android updates and Apple typically offering the same amount for its iPhones.

That said, iOS and Android are very different. The former offers a clean, uniform layout and focuses on privacy and security, while the latter is an open-source system offering deep customization options and more granular control. If you're reading this, you probably already know which software you prefer.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: battery

For most of the last decade, Samsung’s flagship phones have had higher-capacity batteries than Apple’s, but that’s recently changed.

Samsung has refused to move above 5,000mAh in its flagship Galaxy models, while iPhones have kept creeping upwards, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max having either a 5,567mAh battery (in eSIM-only models) or a 5,391mAh one in other variants.

Still, both phones excel when it comes to battery life, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max delivering “outstanding endurance” according to our review, and we similarly praised the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra for its “fantastic” battery life.

Both phones can last for around 30 hours if used casually, and if used continuously, you'll get around 17 hours from the iPhone 18 Pro Max and 16 hours from the Galaxy.

Both devices also charge fast — you'll get 60W wired speeds and 25W wireless speeds regardless of which you choose — but for sheer capacity, the iPhone 18 Pro Max has the edge. It benefits from MagSafe, too, which isn’t something you get with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

iPhone 18 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: verdict

The iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are both exceptional phones, but they have some specific strengths and weaknesses too.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a variable aperture, a higher-capacity battery, MagSafe, and more storage at the top end, but it also costs a bit more in some configurations.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t just the marginally cheaper phone — at least in some varieties and regions — but it also has an extra camera, a clever Privacy Display, an S Pen stylus, and more or less matches the iPhone in most other ways.

So, you’ll have to consider which of these features matters most to you — but for what it’s worth, the iPhone 18 Pro Max received five stars in our review while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra achieved 4.5 stars.

The race to crown the best camera phone of 2026 is heating up.

Back in January, Samsung released the globally available Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, before Oppo and Xiaomi dropped the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra, respectively, both of which were made available in the UK but not the US (Australian buyers, meanwhile, got the Xiaomi, but not the Oppo).

Google entered the race with the Google Pixel 11 Pro in August, and now Apple has released the iPhone 18 Pro, which is earning plaudits for its variable aperture feature and pro-level video capture capabilities.

So, wherever you are in the world, you’ve likely got at least three compelling camera phones to consider at the time of writing, and I took two of them — the iPhone 18 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra — on a recent trip to Hawaii to see how they stack up against one another.

Below, I’ve added examples of both phones’ wide, zoom, macro, ultra-wide, and selfie-taking capabilities to help you decide which model is right for you. Then, at the end, I've summarized my thoughts on how they compare.

Specs

Before we dig into the comparison, here’s a quick roundup of each phone’s key camera specs:

In addition to the optical zoom distances listed above, both phones offer an additional ‘optical-quality’ zoom (8x for the iPhone, 2x and 10x for the Samsung), but they do so via a sensor crop rather than fixed focal lengths, so I’ve prioritized their true optical zoom distances in the ‘zoom’ section below.

It’s also worth noting that, to save storage, both the iPhone 18 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra capture images in smaller file sizes than their large sensors suggest by default. Specifically, the iPhone defaults to 24MP (using Apple’s ‘super-high-resolution’ imaging pipeline), while the Galaxy S26 Ultra defaults to 12MP (via pixel-binning).

I stuck with these out-of-the-box shooting settings for each of the comparisons below.

Wide

iPhone

Samsung

In this picture of a statue by the beach — “The Acrobats” by John Robinson — we can immediately see the difference between the two phones’ approaches to color science.

The iPhone’s image is the more natural of the two, with more pronounced shadows and muted colors, versus the Samsung’s brighter, more contrast-heavy image. This difference is particularly apparent on the statue’s torso and patch of grass to the right of the scene.

iPhone

Samsung

Here, again, the Samsung’s image has punchier, arguably more artificial-looking colors, but the difference isn’t quite so stark as in the first image. Both photos are equally detailed.

iPhone

Samsung

Again, only a subtle difference between the two images, but the leaves are certainly greener in the Galaxy’s shot (see the top right-hand side of the image)

iPhone

Samsung

The iPhone and Samsung take radically different approaches to capturing this shadowy pathway. The former’s image is more realistic, with strong detail maintained where the leaves meet the sky. The Galaxy’s image is impressively detailed, too, but its colors are much more stylistic than natural, which is emerging as a theme in this comparison.

iPhone

Samsung

This, for me, is the clearest example yet of the color science difference I’ve referenced below every image so far. Both of these shots are equally detailed, but the Samsung has definitely dialed up the saturation versus the iPhone’s more neutral shot.

iPhone

Samsung

Moving on to a sunset image, and the iPhone does a good job at maintaining the clarity of both the foreground and background, while the Galaxy goes full “Oh, so you want a sunset shot?” mode. I definitely don’t hate the Monet-style sky the Samsung has captured here — it's certainly the more aesthetic of the two — but in doing so, the phone obscures almost everyone in the foreground. The iPhone’s shot is, again, more balanced, but much less stylistic.

iPhone

Samsung

This image, though, proves that the Galaxy S26 Ultra can effectively balance foreground and background in low light. I actually think it does a slightly better job than the iPhone here, but there’s not much in it.

iPhone

Samsung

Again, pretty similar results here, but the iPhone definitely chooses a warmer hue that fades from orange to red, while the Samsung goes from red to an almost pink color. This is, in fairness, a particularly tricky shot to capture.

Zoom

iPhone

Samsung

Back to that statue again, this time at 4x optical zoom for the iPhone and 5x optical zoom for the Samsung.

The level of detail captured is impressive in both cases, but the Galaxy’s image is, in my opinion, the sharper of the two, which makes sense given the phone's optical advantage over the iPhone — the Galaxy essentially has more information for its processing algorithms to work with, resulting in a slightly more detailed image.

I also like the way the Galaxy dials down the color of the blurred clouds in the background to really bring the statue into focus, which isn't something you'd expect given the phone's gung-ho approach to colors we've observed so far.

iPhone

Samsung

Interestingly, in these photos — taken at the same optical distances as above — the Samsung has again dialed down the colors to produce a much grayer image than the iPhone, though I'm not sure that approach works for this particular scene.

The iPhone's image is warmer and, in parts (see the cracks in the pavement), a touch more detailed.

iPhone

Samsung

This is an example of each phone’s maximum digital zoom capabilities — 40x for the iPhone, 100x for the Samsung. Yes, 100 is a bigger number than 40, but you can see why Apple doesn’t bother to offer anything beyond that figure. In both cases, the phone is guessing at details via processing trickery, rather than actually being able to capture them, which results in two pretty unusable images.

Still, the Samsung will produce iPhone-like results up until around the 50x mark, so it's a more versatile zoom camera overall.

Macro and ultra-wide

iPhone

Samsung

Macro mode — where your phone automatically switches to its ultra-wide camera lens when you move close to a small subject — was my favorite test to carry out on both the iPhone 18 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra, because macro photography is something Apple and Samsung phones have been good at for years.

In this example, as we’ve seen previously, the iPhone 18 Pro opts for more realistic, neutral colors, while the Galaxy’s shot has way more contrast. The greens in these two images are quite literally different shades.

iPhone

Samsung

Again, the level of detail here is comparable across both shots, but this is the first instance where I actually prefer the Galaxy’s deeper, more artistic-looking colors. The iPhone's brighter image is closer to reality, though.

iPhone

Samsung

In this example, it’s the other way around; I prefer the iPhone’s colors to the Samsung’s. However, you’ll notice — if you zoom in on the vascular tissue of the leaves — that the Galaxy phone actually captures more detail.

iPhone

Samsung

As in my comparison between the iPhone 17 Pro and OnePlus 15’s cameras, I’ve only included one regular ultra-wide example here because I was so preoccupied with the phones’ wide and telephoto lenses while shooting in Hawaii that I forgot to take more with their respective ultra-wide lenses (perhaps my colleague was right in saying that phones don’t need ultra-wide lenses at all — but that’s a debate for another day).

In any case, everything I said about the first few photos in this comparison applies again here. Both phones capture excellent detail — I'd probably give the edge to the iPhone, since it captures the graininess of the sand slightly better than the Samsung — but their approaches to color science differ dramatically, which is evident in the sand, sky, and grass pictured above. The iPhone captures the scene as it is; the Samsung captures the scene as it thinks you want it to be.

Selfies

iPhone

Samsung

Both of these selfies are detailed and well-balanced in terms of color, but the iPhone's image is the slightly sharper of the two, no doubt because the 18 Pro has a larger 18MP front-facing sensor than the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 12MP sensor. It does a better job of maintaining the clarity of my flyaway hairs, for instance.

It’s worth mentioning, too, that the iPhone 18 Pro’s ‘Center Stage’ selfie camera uses subject tracking to automatically keep you in the frame, and also lets you switch between portrait and landscape modes, depending on how many subjects are in frame. I've used that particular feature a lot, so it's definitely not a gimmick.

Verdict

There’s no doubt that both of these phones are among the best camera phones money can buy in 2026, but they do differ on several fronts.

For everyday shots in good lighting, both the iPhone 18 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra — in their respective default shooting modes — capture plenty of detail, but you’ll get more natural-looking shots from the former, and more vibrant, stylized shots from the latter.

In low light, the iPhone takes slightly brighter pictures and, as a result, sometimes captures more of the scene than the Galaxy, but Samsung’s style-focused color science can similarly lead to better results than the iPhone. It all depends on what you’re shooting and which aesthetic you prefer.

When it comes to zoom, both phones perform well, though the Galaxy will get you closer to your subject than the iPhone without sacrificing detail (5x optical zoom vs 4x optical zoom). You also get an additional 3x optical zoom option on the Samsung, which you don’t get on the iPhone. If I wanted the most versatile zoom shooter, I’d choose the Samsung.

For selfies, though, the iPhone is the clear winner, with its larger 18MP sensor and genuinely useful framing tricks.

As mentioned, the iPhone 18 Pro also boasts a variable aperture feature. Since I wanted to compare both of these phones using their out-of-the-box shooting settings, I didn’t manually control the aperture on the iPhone in any of the above shots, but Apple does give you the option to do so, whereas Samsung does not.

Changing the aperture is useful for tweaking how much of a given background you want to keep in focus (as my colleague Lance demonstrates in a separate piece), and you can also achieve some nice lens flare effects in low light while doing so. But this is very much a pro-level feature that most users won’t play around with too much.

Overall, then, I’d say the Galaxy S26 Ultra is my preferred camera phone for zoom photography and stylized shots, but the iPhone 18 Pro is the more consistent wide shooter in both well-lit and low-light scenarios. It’s got a better selfie camera, too, and since Apple’s new pro-level controls unlock more possibilities for the iPhone, it’s the phone I’ll be sticking with until the next wave of camera-focused Chinese flagships rolls around.

Incidentally, I'll be publishing separate Portrait mode and video comparisons shortly, so stick with TechRadar for more on these two top-end camera phones.

• There's an app in the works for the iPhone Duo that recreates a Walkman
• Called Duo-Man, it makes good use of the iPhone Duo's two screens to replicate the sense of putting a tape in a Walkman and then playing it
• It currently supports Apple Music and local files

You can’t even buy the iPhone Duo yet, but that hasn’t stopped developers from working on apps for it — and there’s already one app that could, for me, almost justify an iPhone Duo purchase all on its own.

Vidit Bhargava has shared details of their ‘Duo-Man’ app on X, and it’s designed to recreate the experience of an old-school Walkman.

This is something that only works with a foldable form factor, and the dimensions of the iPhone Duo look ideal for it, with the cover screen acting as the front of a Walkman — where you can see a tape spinning away and access controls — and the foldable screen being something that you can open to insert or remove a tape.

A digital take on analog tech

Of course, you’re not actually jamming a tape into the iPhone Duo, but the interface of the app comes close to replicating what a Walkman looks like, and the act of opening and closing the screen to insert a new tape should help recreate some of the tactility of that device too.

The app also includes button click and static sounds recorded from a real Walkman, just to add to the nostalgia value, and you’ll even be able to use an Apple Pencil to wind the tapes.

But this has some modern conveniences too, with support for both Apple Music and local files (with Spotify support possibly being added later), so you’ll have access to a massive library of ‘tapes’ immediately, rather than having to carry around multiple real tapes with you (as we did in the 90s if we didn’t want to hear the same thing on repeat).

The app — like the iPhone Duo itself — isn’t available yet, but it’s seemingly going to be a hit when it does launch, given that the X post about it currently has 2.1 million views and 10,000 likes.

• Multiple Reddit threads have highlighted issues with iOS 27
• Some users say their screens are sometimes unresponsive, while others report slow and jittery performance
• Some possible fixes have been suggested, though these aren't ideal solutions

While iOS 27 has generally been well received, no update is perfect, and some users are reporting that, since downloading the latest software, they’re experiencing performance issues.

Across multiple Reddit threads, there are reports of unresponsive touchscreens and slowness or stuttering. It’s unclear how widespread these issues are, but in the case of unresponsive screens, users are reporting it can happen on almost any part of the interface, while the slow or stuttery performance is most often exhibited when swiping or switching screens.

However, a few possible solutions have also been presented. One user has reported that restarting their phone fixes an unresponsive screen (at least temporarily), while another has said that when their apps freeze, they can unfreeze them by switching to the home screen and then back to the frozen app.

As for slowness and jittery animations, one Redditor found that having too many app icons on your home screens can cause a stuttery launch animation, so reducing the number of apps on each screen might help.

You might have to wait for a proper fix

Still, these all seem to be either temporary solutions or ones that restrict how you customize your phone, so they’re not ideal.

More long-term, it’s possible that things will settle down on their own after the initial post-update system-wide indexing is complete. Failing that, if you’re affected by these issues, you might have to wait for the next iOS update for a proper fix, as hopefully Apple will address it there.

And if you haven’t updated to iOS 27 yet, you might want to consider holding off until it’s clearer how widespread these issues are — though usually bugs like these only affect a minority of users, so the risk probably isn’t too high.

There’s certainly plenty of good stuff in iOS 27 too, including the long-awaited AI overhaul for Siri, so hopefully these teething issues don’t last long.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

John Ternus has barely been CEO of Apple for a fortnight, and he's already caused quite the stir. Some of this is to be expected; Apple's September event is barely in the rearview, and the dust has far from settled following the announcement of the long-awaited iPhone Duo.

Still, it's one small interjection he made in a video interview with TechRadar and Tom's Guide (see below) that tells me a lot about his relationship with the company he now governs.

In addition to discussing the new devices launched this week, we had the opportunity to ask Ternus about his views on AI, wearable tech and becoming CEO of one of the world's largest and most eminent tech companies; plus, crucially, his view on innovation.

When our Editor-at-Large, Lance Ulanoff, asked about his plans to reinvigorate the brand's image when it comes to innovation, Ternus replied: "I don't think we ever lost innovation."

Is it ever enough?

The unavoidable truth is that the "iPhone moment" is, perhaps, once in a generation; and there's a lot more competition in the playing field now than there was back in 2007. That being said, it's hard to argue that there's been no innovation under Tim Cook's tenure.

From Apple silicon chips (2021) and Touch ID (2013) to Face ID (2017) and the world's first over-the-counter direct-to-consumer ECG in the Apple Watch Series 4 (2018), there's been plenty to shout about — even though recent years have maybe been a little quieter, barring the Vision Pro... but that's not much to write home about yet.

Of course, Ternus' quick retort garnered some reactions nonetheless, with commenters across our TikTok and YouTube accounts arguing that true product-level innovation had been lost at Apple for many a year. So, what do you think?

Cook had a difficult job, without a shadow of a doubt: huge boots to fill in the wake of Steve Jobs' passing, a grieving user base and fanbase, plus lofty expectations to steer the Apple ship through everything from a global pandemic to hardware supply chain chaos; and that's just in recent years.

Apple's still kicking, with a strong set of products, devoted audience and a seemingly optimistic future under Ternus' leadership. Only time will tell what's in store for this new era after the iPhone Duo.

• 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 48MP 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 48MP 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 boast 48MP main, 48MP ultra-wide, and 48MP telephoto cameras — 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 optical zoom, an 8x zoom also with an "optical-quality" sensor crop, and then you can stretch all the way up to a 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 pure optical and the latter being optical with an added sensor crop. 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 18MP 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.

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.

• 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.

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.

Apple's first foldable phone has arrived, and if you've decided the iPhone Duo is the handset for you, you'll want to get a case organized sharpish. The unique proportions mean not all of my favorite case-makers have their Duo cases sorted just yet — however, there are still plenty of excellent covers that are are available to buy (or pre-order).

For a phone this high-spec (and pricey), I'd definitely recommend spending a bit more and sticking to known brands for your case. Below you'll find recommendations for the US and for the UK, from Apple direct, as well as via trusted brands OtterBox, Spigen and Mous. I'll update this guide as more options become available, but if you have your Duo on its way now, you won't want to wait.

Foldables not your thing? Here are the best US iPhone 18 Pro cases and the best UK iPhone 18 Pro cases, for Apple's new flagship.

Apple iPhone Duo cases — US

In the UK? Hop to the UK case picks

Apple iPhone Duo cases — UK

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.

Hunting for an iPhone 18 Pro case to go with your shiny new handset? I'm here to help. I've rounded up my favorite cases and covers from some of our favourite brands. Sure, you can get cheaper options if you go for a weird, no-name brand on Amazon, but with a phone this pricey, it really is worth paying a bit more for a case that's going to provide proper protection.

If you want a case with personality, head to CASETiFY — here you can choose your level of impact protection, as well as picking from a massive range of fun designs. Mous is brilliant for premium feeling, streamlined cases, and OtterBox shines when it comes to covers with built-in extras like finger grips and stands. Spigen is great for ultra-rugged protection, and if you want a leather wallet, Snakehive is the brand to look for. Of course, Apple makes a few official options, too. You'll find all these below.

Not bought your phone yet? Here are our iPhone 19 Pro first impressions, and a guide to Apple iPhone 18 Pro preorders.

In the US? Head to my US iPhone 18 Pro case roundup instead

iPhone 18 Pro cases

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.

• 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.