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Alongside the iPhone Duo, Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max today, and while the Duo understandably got the headlines, for most people reading this the 18 Pro is the phone that actually matters. So here's what's new, what it costs, and my honest view on who should upgrade and who should hang on to what they've got.
Prices and dates
The iPhone 18 Pro has a 6.3-inch screen and starts at £1,199, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch screen and starts at £1,299. Both come in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, so the Pro runs £1,199, £1,399, £1,799 and £2,399 across those sizes and the Pro Max runs £1,299, £1,499, £1,899 and £2,499. There are four colours this year, black, silver, glacier and a new burgundy, and pre-orders open on Saturday 12 September at 1pm UK time with phones arriving on Friday 18 September.
That £1,199 starting price is £100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro launched at last year, and it's not the only thing that has moved. The rest of Apple's UK iPhone lineup has gone up too, with the iPhone 17 now £899 and the iPhone 17e now £699, both £100 more than they were earlier this year. Apple hasn't given a reason, and I'm not going to speculate, but it's simply where prices are now and worth knowing before you look at anything.
The camera is the story
The main 48MP camera has a variable aperture for the first time on an iPhone. It physically opens and closes, from f/1.48 to f/4, using six tiny blades, and you get four settings to choose between.
In plain English, that means at the wide setting you get the soft, blurred background that used to need Portrait mode to fake, and at the narrow setting you get a group shot where everyone is sharp from the front row to the back. Until now the iPhone did all of this with software, and now it does it with glass, which is a difference you'll notice most in tricky light where the software version tends to fall apart.
There's a new Pro Controls mode for people who want to set aperture, shutter speed and white balance by hand, and a feature called Apple Reference Image, which is opt-in and signs your photos with data from the sensor so they can be verified as untouched later. That's useful for anyone whose photos need to be trusted, whether that's insurance claims or journalism. Video goes up to 60 frames per second with Cinematic effects you can apply after the fact, and there's 4K Dolby Vision time-lapse too.
Chip and battery
The A20 Pro is Apple's first 2 nanometre iPhone chip, and Apple claims a 40 per cent faster GPU than last year's A19 Pro along with double the AI compute. In everyday use you won't feel the difference from a 17 Pro, but you certainly will if you're coming from a phone that's four or five years old.
Battery is the bigger practical gain, and I think the one more people will actually appreciate. Apple's UK specs quote up to 34 hours of video playback on the 18 Pro and up to 43 hours on the Pro Max, and a wired charge gets you to 50 per cent in around 15 minutes. Apple also says that five minutes of charging gives roughly seven hours of video on the Pro Max, which is exactly the kind of number that matters when you're already late and running out the door.
Smaller things
The Dynamic Island is smaller and can now show three Live Activities at once. There's Apple's own C2 modem and N1 wireless chip inside, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. iOS 27 ships with it, and arrives for everyone else on Monday 14 September. And Apple is offering up to £455 of trade-in credit for an iPhone 16 Pro or later, with between £40 and £885 available for other eligible phones, so it's worth checking what yours is worth before you decide anything.
What wasn't announced
There was no standard iPhone 18. Apple announced the Pro, the Pro Max and the Duo, and said nothing at all about a non-Pro model, so the iPhone 17 stays on sale at £899. I'd treat any talk of when a regular iPhone 18 might turn up as rumour until Apple says otherwise.
So, should you upgrade?
If you're on an iPhone 13 Pro, 14 Pro or anything older, then yes, and the battery alone will change your day. Add the camera, Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, none of which your current phone can run, and it's the biggest jump you'll have felt in years.
If you're on an iPhone 15 Pro, probably not yet. You already get Apple Intelligence and Siri AI with iOS 27, and while the 18 Pro's camera and battery are better, your phone still has plenty left in it.
If you're on an iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro, no. Enjoy iOS 27 on Monday, because it's free and it's very good.
And if you're not sure you need a Pro at all, the iPhone 17 at £899 is a very good phone with the same 6.3-inch screen size, and it runs Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. Most people don't need a variable aperture. What they need is a phone that lasts the day and takes a lovely photo of the grandchildren, and the 17 does both of those without any fuss.
If you'd like help deciding, that's what I'm here for. Book a quick session and we'll look at what you've got, what you actually use it for, and whether upgrading makes sense right now. No sales pitch, just an honest answer.
