Apple last week announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, arriving two years after the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Skipping a generation means makes for a bigger upgrade, with more than 50 differences between the 2024 and 2026 models.
Most of the visible change arrived in between, with the iPhone 17 Pro replacing the titanium frame and glass back with an aluminum unibody and Ceramic Shield 2, adding vapor chamber cooling, and upgrading both the telephoto and front cameras. This year’s update is largely focused on internal changes, centering on the A20 Pro chip, a variable-aperture Main camera, a smaller Dynamic Island, and a battery capacity increase that delivers the largest jump in battery life in the iPhone’s history. For iPhone 16 Pro owners, the two sets of changes stack on top of each other.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB, $200 more than the iPhone 16 Pro’s $999 launch price, although the entry storage tier has doubled from 128GB. Apple no longer sells the iPhone 16 Pro directly, so any comparison now involves either a device you already own or a third-party listing. Here’s everything that differs between the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro:
Design and Display
| iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|
| Titanium frame with full glass back | Aluminum unibody with partial Ceramic Shield back |
| 8.25mm thickness | 8.75mm thickness |
| Glass rounded square camera bump | Full-width rounded rectangle aluminum camera plateau |
| Ceramic Shield front | Ceramic Shield 2 front with 3x better scratch resistance |
| Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating only | Apple-designed anti-reflective display coating to reduce glare |
| 2,000 nits peak display brightness (outdoor) | 3,000 nits peak display brightness (outdoor) |
| 2x better outdoor contrast | |
| Dynamic Island supports up to two simultaneous Live Activities | Smaller Dynamic Island, supports up to three simultaneous Live Activities |
| iPhone 16 Pro: Weighs 7.03 ounces (199 grams) iPhone 16 Pro Max: Weighs 7.99 ounces (227 grams) |
iPhone 18 Pro: Weighs 7.44 ounces (211 grams) iPhone 18 Pro Max: Weighs 8.78 ounces (249 grams) |
| Available in White, Black, Natural, and Desert | Available in Silver, Black, Glacier, and Burgundy |
Chip, Performance, and Connectivity
| iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|
| A18 Pro chip | A20 Pro chip |
| Built with TSMC’s N3E process (3nm) | Built with TSMC’s N2 process (2nm), Apple’s first 2nm smartphone chip |
| 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores | 6-core CPU with 2 super cores and 4 efficiency cores |
| 60GB/s memory bandwidth | ~115GB/s memory bandwidth |
| 8GB RAM | 12GB RAM |
| 6-core GPU | 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators |
| 16-core Neural Engine | Dual 16-core Neural Engine (32 total cores) |
| Vapor chamber cooling with 3x more surface area than the iPhone 17 Pro | |
| New chip packaging that places silicon die beside memory, allowing it to attach directly to the vapor chamber | |
| Qualcomm Snapdragon X71 modem | iPhone 18 Pro: Apple C2 modem in all countries iPhone 18 Pro Max: Apple C2 modem in all countries except the U.S., where it uses a Qualcomm modem |
| Broadcom Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip | Apple N1 chip for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread |
| Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity | Bluetooth 6 connectivity |
Rear Camera
| iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|
| 12-megapixel Telephoto camera | 48-megapixel Fusion Telephoto camera |
| 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 5x optical zoom options | 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x optical zoom options |
| Fixed ƒ/1.78 aperture on the 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera | Variable-aperture 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with four stops: ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0, using six laser-cut blades |
| API available for developers to control the aperture range within their own apps | |
| Faster Night mode, tied to the new variable-aperture lens | |
| Pro controls in the Camera app: manual lens aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and histogram | |
| New sensor and computational imaging pipeline on the Fusion Main camera, delivering around 50% better low-light performance and more detail in the back of group photos | |
| Photographic Styles 2, adjusting tone and color | Photographic Styles 3, adding texture and grain controls alongside tone and color |
| Smart focus tracking | |
| Cinematic mode recording up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps | Cinematic mode recording up to 4K Dolby Vision at 60 fps |
| Cinematic mode effects can be applied after capture, on video shot at up to 60 fps | |
| Improved low-light video | |
| Time-lapse video recording with stabilization, up to 4K Dolby Vision | |
| Apple Reference Image (Main camera only) | |
| Audio Mix | Audio Mix with new algorithms for higher-quality voices, and the ability to isolate music |
| ProRes RAW capture support | |
| Genlock support |
Front Camera
| iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|
| 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera | 18-megapixel TrueDepth camera |
| Tap to zoom | Tap to zoom and rotate |
| Center Stage | |
| Ultra-stabilized video | |
| Dual Capture (up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps) | |
| Photographic Styles 2, adjusting tone and color | Photographic Styles 3, adding texture and grain controls alongside tone and color |
| Smart focus tracking | |
| Cinematic mode effects can be applied after capture | |
| Improved low-light video | |
| Time-lapse video recording with stabilization, up to 4K Dolby Vision |
Battery and Charging
| iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|
| iPhone 16 Pro: 3,582 mAh battery iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,685 mAh battery |
iPhone 18 Pro: 4,056 mAh battery iPhone 18 Pro Max: 5,391 mAh battery |
| iPhone 16 Pro: Up to 27 hours of video playback iPhone 16 Pro Max: Up to 33 hours of video playback |
iPhone 18 Pro: Up to 36 hours of video playback iPhone 18 Pro Max: Up to 45 hours of video playback |
| iPhone 16 Pro: Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher iPhone 16 Pro Max: Up to 50% charge in 35 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher |
Up to 50% charge in around 15 minutes with a 60W-capable adapter |
| iPhone 16 Pro: MagSafe wireless charging up to 22W with a 30W adapter or higher iPhone 16 Pro Max: MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W with a 30W adapter or higher |
MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W, reaching 50% charge in 30 minutes with a 35W adapter or higher |
Storage and Pricing
| iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|
| iPhone 16 Pro: Available with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage iPhone 16 Pro Max: Available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage |
Available with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage |
| iPhone 16 Pro: Launched at $999 (128GB), $1,099 (256GB), $1,299 (512GB), $1,499 (1TB) iPhone 16 Pro Max: Launched at $1,199 (256GB), $1,399 (512GB), $1,599 (1TB) |
iPhone 18 Pro: $1,199 (256GB), $1,399 (512GB), $1,799 (1TB), $2,399 (2TB) iPhone 18 Pro Max: $1,299 (256GB), $1,499 (512GB), $1,899 (1TB), $2,499 (2TB) |
| Now discontinued, only available via third-parties | iPhone 18 Pro: Sold directly by Apple, from $49.95 a month for 24 months via Apple Upgrade iPhone 18 Pro Max: Sold directly by Apple, from $54.12 a month for 24 months via Apple Upgrade |
Which to Choose?
For iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max owners, the iPhone 18 Pro is a worthwhile upgrade, and a far easier recommendation than it is for anyone coming from last year’s model. Two generations of changes accumulate, touching almost every part of the device: an all-new aluminum unibody with Ceramic Shield 2 and three times better scratch resistance, a display that is 50% brighter outdoors at 3,000 nits and features an anti-reflective coating the iPhone 16 Pro lacks entirely, and a battery that runs for 36 hours rather than 27, rising from 33 hours to 45 hours on the Pro Max. Charging has changed most dramatically of all, dropping from 50% in 30 minutes to 50% in around 15 minutes.
The camera differences are also major. The telephoto camera moves from 12 megapixels at 5x to 48 megapixels with 4x and 8x optical options, the front camera jumps from 12 megapixels to 18 megapixels and gains Center Stage and ultra-stabilized video, and the Main camera trades its fixed ƒ/1.78 aperture for a four-stop variable aperture ranging from ƒ/1.48 to ƒ/4.0. Add ProRes RAW, Genlock, Dual Capture, Cinematic mode at 60 fps, and manual Pro controls, and the iPhone 18 Pro is a substantially different camera system.
Performance is the other argument for upgrading, particularly if you have noticed your iPhone 16 Pro throttling. The A20 Pro moves to a 2nm process, gains a seventh GPU core with Neural Accelerators, and doubles the Neural Engine to 32 cores, while the vapor chamber that the iPhone 16 Pro lacks entirely is now in its second generation. If you play demanding games, shoot long video clips, or expect to lean on on-device Apple Intelligence features for several more years, the extra 4GB of RAM and the doubled Neural Engine make the iPhone 18 Pro the more future-proof purchase.
That being said, the price has moved against you. The iPhone 18 Pro costs $200 more than the iPhone 16 Pro did at launch, even accounting for the doubled 256GB entry tier, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max is $100 more than its equivalent. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is also 22 grams heavier than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is noticeable in the hand, although it buys you the largest battery gain Apple has ever delivered on an iPhone and the option of a 2TB device.
A notable exception arises if you are upgrading primarily for the design, the telephoto camera, or the battery. Almost all of those enhancements arrived with the iPhone 17 Pro rather than this year’s model, so an iPhone 17 Pro bought from a third-party retailer at a heavy discount will get you most of the way there for meaningfully less money. The iPhone 18 Pro’s genuine exclusives over that model are the variable aperture and Pro controls, the C2 modem, the smaller Dynamic Island, and roughly three extra hours of battery life. If none of those matter to you, last year’s model is the better value.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max opened on Saturday, September 12, with availability beginning Friday, September 18.
This article, "iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 18 Pro Buyer's Guide: Worth Upgrading?" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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