The first iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reviews are in ahead of the phones reaching customers and stores on Friday, September 18. Reviewers generally agree that Apple's latest Pro models are excellent, with stronger cameras, longer battery life and faster sustained performance, but the overall upgrade is incremental for owners of recent iPhones.

The iPhone 18 Pro models retain the broad design introduced with last year's iPhone 17 Pro lineup. Their main changes are inside the phone, including Apple's A20 Pro chip, a redesigned cooling system, camera upgrades and a smaller Dynamic Island.

A20 Pro delivers faster sustained performance

Apple says the A20 Pro is the first 2-nanometer smartphone chip and provides up to 20% faster CPU performance and up to 40% faster graphics performance than the A19 Pro. Gizmodo's Raymond Wong recorded Geekbench 7 scores of 4,027 for single-core performance and 11,540 for multi-core performance on the iPhone 18 Pro. Compared with the iPhone 17 Pro, those results represented gains of 24% and 26%, respectively.

A vapor chamber that is three times larger than the previous generation is designed to help the chip maintain peak performance for longer. Wong said the iPhone 18 Pro did not become noticeably hot during ordinary use, including recording 4K video at 60 frames per second.

Battery life improves, especially on the Pro Max

Both models offer longer battery life, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max seeing the most significant improvement. Apple claims up to 15% more offline video playback than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, while charging to 50% now takes 15 minutes instead of 20.

In Tom's Guide's battery test, the iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted 18 hours and 27 minutes, compared with 17 hours and 54 minutes for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The standard iPhone 18 Pro reached 16 hours and 17 minutes, up from 15 hours and 21 minutes for the iPhone 17 Pro.

Variable aperture is the biggest camera change

The main 48-megapixel Fusion camera now has a variable aperture, allowing users to choose how much light reaches the sensor. The available settings are ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8 and ƒ/4.0. Apple says the system can improve low-light images and preserve detail toward the edges of group photos.

PetaPixel found that the ƒ/2.8 setting produced the sharpest results in testing, while the widest ƒ/1.48 setting showed softer edges. The Camera app also adds manual controls for shutter speed, white balance and aperture, along with a histogram. CNET's Patrick Holland welcomed the controls but criticised their placement and noted that they cannot be assigned to the Camera Control button.

Small interface and connectivity changes

The smaller Dynamic Island can display up to three Live Activities at once. Reviewers found that the change gives a second activity more room to show information, including in flight-tracking apps.

The phones also use Apple's second-generation C2 modem worldwide in most configurations. The iPhone 18 Pro Max reportedly uses a Qualcomm modem in the United States, while Apple's C2 modem is said to offer faster uploads and lower power consumption than the C1X. Reviewers did not conduct scientific modem testing, but early observations found 5G performance adequate.

Across the early reviews, the iPhone 18 Pro is described as a strong choice for owners of an iPhone 16 Pro or older. The case is less compelling for iPhone 17 Pro owners, as the latest models do not introduce a major redesign or a must-have yearly upgrade.