CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA / RankWire.AI / – Apple has introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max with a variable-aperture camera, longer battery life and the new A20 Pro chip. The flagship phones also bring new manual camera controls and a redesigned Dynamic Island. Both models run iOS 27 and support Siri AI through Apple Intelligence. Preorders start September 12, with availability beginning September 18 in more than 65 countries and regions.
The 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera now lets users choose between four aperture settings. Six laser-cut blades control the opening and adjust depth of field and light capture. Users can also change shutter speed and white balance in the Camera app. The new Pro controls include a histogram for checking exposure. Video features include post-capture Cinematic effects at up to 60 frames per second. Time-lapse recording now supports 4K resolution with Dolby Vision HDR.
The camera system also introduces Reference Image, which records signed sensor data when users enable Reference mode. Private Cloud Compute turns that data into a reference image for comparison in the Photos app. The feature aims to help users check whether an image has changed after capture. Support for SynthID will follow in a software update later this year. Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said the lineup advances camera, performance, battery and intelligence.
New camera system adds deeper manual control
The A20 Pro processor uses a 2-nanometer manufacturing process and includes a six-core CPU with a seven-core GPU. It also carries a Dual 16-core Neural Engine with 32 total cores. The company says the GPU runs up to 40% faster than the A19 Pro. A redesigned vapor chamber increases the surface area used for cooling. The new thermal system works with updated chip packaging to support higher sustained performance during demanding workloads.
Battery life rises across both Pro models, with the largest gains on eSIM-only versions. The iPhone 18 Pro reaches up to 36 hours of video playback. The iPhone 18 Pro Max extends that figure to 45 hours. Compatible wired charging can take the Pro model to 50% in about 15 minutes. eSIM-only versions will launch in markets including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, alongside several countries outside the Middle East.
Siri AI expands Apple Intelligence on iOS 27
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max ship with iOS 27 and access to the latest Apple Intelligence features. Siri AI enters beta on September 14 for supported devices set to English. Support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish is due in October. Siri AI can draw from messages, email and photos when users ask for information. It can also respond to content displayed on the screen and assist with tasks through the Camera app.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 in the United States, while the Pro Max begins at $1,299. Buyers can choose 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB of storage. The available finishes are black, silver, glacier and burgundy. Orders open at 5 a.m. Pacific Time on September 12. Sales start September 18 in the first wave of markets. Another 20 countries and regions will receive the iPhone 18 Pro lineup from September 25.