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iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max announced with A20 Pro chip, variable aperture camera and $100 price increase

21 publications · September 9, 2026

Key points

Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max with a $100 base price increase to $1,199 and $1,299 respectively
Both models feature the A20 Pro chip, a smaller Dynamic Island, and a variable aperture main camera built with six laser-cut blades thinner than a human hair
The phones include a redesigned vapor chamber cooling system with three times the surface area of the iPhone 17 Pro, enabling 40 percent better sustained performance
Battery capacity increased 1.7 percent in the Pro (4,056 mAh) and 11.7 percent in the Pro Max (5,391 mAh), with the Pro Max gaining six hours more video playback
The iPhone 18 Pro Max weighs 249 grams, 16 grams heavier than its predecessor and the heaviest non-folding iPhone to date
Pre-orders begin September 12 in 65 countries with shipments starting September 18; a second wave of 20 countries follows September 25
Storage tiers now start at 256GB and go up to a new 2TB option, with the 1TB models priced $300 higher than the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro models

Summary (AI)

Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max at its September event. The company confirmed pre-orders open September 12 across 65 countries including the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, China, France, India and South Korea, with shipments beginning September 18. A second wave of 20 countries will receive the phones from September 25.

The base price increase applies across all storage tiers, but the gap widens at higher capacities: 1TB models cost $300 more than the iPhone 17 Pro equivalents, not $100. Apple also raised prices on older iPhone models by $100. The coverage notes this follows similar $100 increases from Google and Samsung earlier in 2026.

Apple redesigned the thermal system around a next-generation vapor chamber and changed the silicon packaging to place the die and memory side by side rather than stacked, removing memory from the chip’s thermal path. The Pro Max received a much larger battery increase than the Pro. Both models retain the same physical dimensions as their predecessors but are heavier, likely due to the larger vapor chamber and battery. The phones remain eSIM-only in the same 12 countries as the iPhone 17 Pro, with SIM trays available elsewhere.

Sources

54 articles from 21 publications