iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro: Tech giant flagships compared

Apple has launched the iPhone 18 Pro, and Google's Pixel 11 Pro was waiting for it. Here's how the specs of the two flagships compare.

The timing is hard to ignore. Google launched the Pixel 11 Pro about a month ahead of Apple's fall event, positioning its compact flagship to spoil the iPhone 18 Pro party.

The iPhone 18 Pro is the smaller of Apple's two new Pro models, sitting below the iPhone 18 Pro Max. It lines up naturally against the Pixel 11 Pro, the more compact model to the Pro XL stablemate.

This is how the iPhone 18 Pro compares against the Google Pixel 11 Pro.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Specifications

Specifications	iPhone 18 Pro	Google Pixel 11 Pro
Starting Price (launch)	$1,199	$1,099
Dimensions	2.83 x 5.91 in, 8.75mm thick	2.8 x 6.0 in, 8.1mm thick
Weight (ounces)	7.44	7.2
Processor	A20 Pro	Google Tensor G6
RAM	12GB	12GB (256GB), 16GB (512GB and 1TB)
Storage	256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB	256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Display type	6.3-inch Super Retina XDR, ProMotion, always-on display, 3,000 nits max	6.3-inch Super Actua LTPO OLED, 1-120Hz, 3,600 nits max
Resolution	2,622 x 1,206 at 460 ppi	2,856 x 1,280 at 495 ppi
Biometrics	Face ID	Fingerprint Unlock, Face Unlock
Connectivity	5G (Sub-6GHz and mmWave), Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Ultra Wideband Gen 2, NFC, Emergency SOS via Satellite, USB-C	5G (Sub-6GHz and mmWave), Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Ultra Wideband, NFC, Thread, Satellite SOS, USB-C 3.2, dual eSIM
Rear Cameras	48MP Fusion Main with variable aperture, 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide, 48MP Telephoto with 8x optical-quality zoom	50MP wide, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, Pro Zoom up to 120x
Front Camera	18MP Center Stage	42MP with autofocus
Battery (video playback)	Up to 36 hours	30+ hours; 4,850mAh typical
Colors	Black, Silver, Glacier, Burgundy	Canyon, Olive, Fog, Obsidian

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Physical dimensions

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro are the compact members of their respective Pro ranges. Both sit below a larger sibling, the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the Pixel 11 Pro XL.

The iPhone 18 Pro keeps the same footprint as the iPhone 17 Pro, at 5.91 inches tall and 2.83 inches wide. The Pixel 11 Pro is fairly similar, at 6.0 inches tall and 2.8 inches wide.

When it comes to thickness, the iPhone 18 Pro is a bit thicker at 8.75mm, versus 8.1mm for the Pixel 11 Pro. On weight, the iPhone 18 Pro is heavier at 7.44 ounces, against the Pixel 11 Pro's 7.2 ounces.

Apple has retained the aluminum frame introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro, so it doesn't look massively different from its predecessor. This is par for the course when it comes to Apple, with the front glass also protected by Ceramic Shield 2.

Google also went with an aluminum frame for weight and structural strength. The Pixel 11 Pro uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back.

The design languages are fairly similar to the rear. Google uses its signature horizontal camera bar, while the iPhone 18 Pro keeps the camera plateau spanning the width of the device.

Despite the space available to it, Apple chooses to bundle its cameras to one side in the triangular arrangement. Meanwhile, Google opts for a more horizontal layout.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Display

Both phones use a 6.3-inch OLED display, making them closely matched in size. The panels differ in their peak capabilities.

The iPhone 18 Pro uses a Super Retina XDR panel at 2,622 by 1,206 pixels, giving it a pixel density of 460 pixels per inch. It has ProMotion up to 120Hz, with 2 million-to-1 contrast, and Wide Color (P3) support.

Brightness hits 1,000 nits for typical usage, with peak brightness for HDR content reaching 1,600 nits. If you're going outside, it can even reach 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

The most visible change this year is at the front. Apple has shrunk the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 18 Pro, increasing usable screen area while keeping Face ID in place.

It also means that the Dynamic Island can now fit in three Live Activities.

Google's Super Actua panel runs at a higher resolution of 2,856 by 1,280, for a higher pixel density of 495 pixels per inch. Its adaptive refresh rate spans 1 to 120Hz, matching the iPhone's smooth ProMotion.

For brightness, Google goes high at 2,400 nits for HDR and up to 3,600 nits for peak brightness. The contrast ratio is also listed as greater than 2 million to one.

Both displays are excellent and support HDR content. The Pixel keeps a slight edge on raw display specifications, though the iPhone's smaller Dynamic Island narrows the gap on usable screen area.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Cameras

Both phones carry three rear cameras, but their sensor choices differ. This is often where Pixel and iPhone diverge most in philosophy in each generation.

The iPhone 18 Pro uses a 48MP Fusion Main, a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide, and a 48MP Fusion Telephoto with a 4x optical zoom. Apple crops the telephoto sensor to produce an 8x optical-quality zoom, for a 16x optical-quality range.

The headline camera change this year is a variable aperture on the main sensor. It adjusts in stages between f/1.48 and f/4.0, giving mechanical control over depth of field, a first for the iPhone Pro line.

For photographers, a controllable aperture can change how much background blur there is, as well as what elements are more in focus than others. This is a boon not just for control over the image, but also in enabling naturally created blur, or bokeh, instead of relying on Apple's usual computational photography trickery.

The Pixel 11 Pro has a slightly higher-resolution 50MP Octa PD wide main camera on a large 1/1.3-inch sensor. It pairs this with a 48MP ultrawide and a 48MP telephoto offering 5x optical zoom.

Google pushes zoom further on paper, thanks again to computer assistance. Its Pro Zoom reaches up to 120x using AI processing, a considerable figure against the iPhone's 40x digital maximum.

Of course, you do have to trust that the AI is actually accurate with its processing and not hallucinating.

Both rear systems use lasers to assist focus. Google's cameras use a multi-zone laser-detect autofocus, while Apple employs a LiDAR scanner for the same purpose.

In either case, you can be reasonably sure that your subjects will be in focus during your nighttime photography sessions.

On the front, the difference is a little stark. The Pixel 11 Pro has a 42MP selfie camera with a 103-degree field of view.

The iPhone 18 Pro, meanwhile, uses an 18MP Center Stage camera. Its main party trick is being able to switch between portrait and landscape orientations, without the user needing to twist their wrist and manually rotate the iPhone.

There are other benefits, such as automatically reframing the shot if you go from a single person to a group, as well as for FaceTime calls.

Moving to video, the iPhone 18 Pro continues Apple's lead, with 4K Dolby Vision up to 120fps, Cinematic mode to 4K 60fps Dolby Vision, Slo-Mo to 240fps 1080p, and Dual Capture at 4K 30fps. On the more professional-facing side, there's ProRes 4K at 120fps with external recording, ACES support, and Apple Log 2.

Google's video tops out at 8K at 30fps and 4K at 60fps, with Slo-Mo at up to 240fps. Then there are features like Cinematic Pan, Macro Focus Video, Night Sight Video, and a 20x Super Video Zoom.

Apple's wider professional video toolkit remains the more complete option for content creators and video professionals. That said, 8K video is mighty tempting, simply for having that much resolution to play with.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Processing and Performance

The iPhone 18 Pro uses the new A20 Pro, built on a newer two-nanometer process. It has the usual faster-than-before 6-core CPU, as well as a 7-core GPU.

Those GPU cores have Neural Accelerators in each core to help with AI task processing. Then there's the Neural Engine, which doubles the usual 16 cores to 32.

This combo is extremely advantageous for Apple, as it can perform considerable amounts of onboard processing for AI workloads.

The Pixel 11 Pro uses Google's Tensor G6, the company's latest release, along with the Titan M3 security coprocessor. Google says the Tensor G6 delivers 50 percent more TPU compute than its predecessor, and therefore can do more onboard AI processing as well.

On a more granular basis, Google's claims for the Tensor G6 include 25 percent faster web browsing and 15 percent quicker app launches than its predecessor. For on-device AI task processing, it's up to 3.5 times faster than the G5, while using up to 3.5 times less energy.

Both phones use a vapor chamber to manage heat during demanding tasks. This slim liquid-filled chamber spreads heat away from the chip, helping both sustain performance for longer before thermal throttling becomes a factor.

The amount of RAM available depends on storage for the Pixel 11 Pro. It has 12GB on the 256GB model, and a larger 16GB on the 512GB and 1TB versions.

Apple includes 12GB of memory across all iPhone 18 Pro capacities.

When it comes to benchmarks, using early credible Geekbench 7 results for the iPhone 18 Pro, we expected there to be relative parity between flagship models. That is seemingly not the case at all.

The results for the Tensor G6 in the Pixel 11 Pro show it has a single-core score of 2,264. This is better than the Pixel 10 Pro's 1,886, but far from the 4,006 of the A20 Pro in the iPhone 18 Pro.

It's a similar story again for the multi-core benchmarks. The Pixel 11 Pro gets to 6,335, but the iPhone soundly beats it with 11,460.

Obviously, Apple's chip design is far in the lead here. Google's improving, but it's at a completely different scale.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - AI

There's no getting away from it. AI is now a thing to consider when buying a new smartphone.

The iPhone 18 Pro runs iOS 27 with Apple Intelligence, which is finally good thanks to Apple's very late refresh of Siri under the name Siri AI. This is arguably the key part of Apple Intelligence now, as Siri is capable of contextual queries, as promised by the company over two years ago.

There are other Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools, Image Playground, and various smaller elements dotted throughout the operating system. This goes as far down as Photos tools for image editing, and even making passes in Apple Wallet.

The Pixel 11 Pro is built around Gemini Intelligence, with Gemini Nano running on-device. Google positions it as proactive, able to handle tasks across apps such as ordering groceries or booking a ride.

Google's AI reach is broad, reflecting its lead in large language models. Features like Magic Capture, Circle to Search, and Live Translate lean on Google's cloud and on-device models.

To a point, you're going to find that both work pretty well in their own right. You may also feel that there's a bit of feature parity, too, and that's thanks to a deal between Apple and Google.

Apple used Google Gemini to help build its Foundation Models, which helped it catch up in the AI race. There's still a fundamental difference in philosophy when it comes to AI processing.

Both Apple and Google do perform some processing on-device, with cloud-based always an option, but Apple leans a lot more into the on-device version. Given Apple's lengthy history of defending user privacy and maintaining security in its operating systems and services, you'd expect Apple to lean that way with AI, too.

There have been allusions to users paying for a better service of Apple AI, though we don't know what that entails yet. The Pixel bundles six months of Google AI Pro, a $119 value, which includes expanded Gemini limits and 5TB of cloud storage.

At the very least, Google expects you to harness its cloud-based AI more, and for you to pay handsomely for the privilege.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Connectivity

Both phones connect to 5G networks, including mmWave and sub-6GHz bands. If you're somehow in a blackspot area, each also has satellite-based emergency features and crash detection.

On a more local connectivity side of things, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 are present on each. Ultra Wideband is present on both, aiding range-finding of devices, such as in Apple's Find My.

Thread networking is also included, which helps with smart home devices. NFC is present too, chiefly used for monetary transactions like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

A big thing for Apple is the modem change, as it's using its own in-house C2 cellular modem in the Pro model. Google's modem, meanwhile, is sourced from MediaTek, so it's not an in-house design just yet.

Both have USB-C for the physical connection. The Pixel uses the USB 3.2 standard, while the iPhone 18 Pro connects at USB 3 speeds, so fairly comparable.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Power and Battery

Battery comparisons can get a bit hand-wavy, since both companies make claims in slightly different ways.

Apple quotes up to 36 hours of local video playback, 33 hours streamed, for the iPhone 18 Pro, a step up from the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple also declares you can get up to 24 hours of "typical use" from it.

Google says there are 30-plus hours of battery life for the Pixel 11 Pro, based on a mixture of calls, texts, data, standby, and other features. Its battery has a typical capacity of 4,850mAh.

For charging, the iPhone 18 Pro hits 50 percent in around 15 minutes with a 60W adapter using USB-C. The Pixel 11 Pro reaches up to 55 percent in about 30 minutes with a 30W charger, again over USB-C.

The Pixel 11 Pro has Pixelsnap, a Qi2.2-certified magnetic accessory system comparable to Apple's MagSafe. Its wireless charging reaches up to 25W, matching MagSafe.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Other Features

Both phones carry an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Your smartphones are safe from rain or the occasional puddle drop.

The iPhone 18 Pro uses Face ID for biometric security. The Pixel 11 Pro instead uses both a fingerprint reader and Face Unlock.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Capacity, Color, and Pricing

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB, a step up from the Pixel 11 Pro's $1,099. Apple's range then climbs through 512GB and 1TB, topping out with a new 2TB option the Pixel does not offer.

The Pixel 11 Pro starts at $1,099 for 256GB, and rises to $1,219 for 512GB. Its storage tops out at 1TB, so Apple stretches further at the high end.

The iPhone 18 Pro ships in Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy. The Pixel 11 Pro offers Canyon, Olive, Fog, and Obsidian.

At close starting prices, the choice comes down to platform and priorities rather than cost. The iPhone is the pricier of the two at entry, but adds the larger 2TB tier for anyone who needs it.

iPhone 18 Pro vs Google Pixel 11 Pro - Which to buy

These two phones are closely matched on hardware in many respects. Both have decent displays and extensive rear camera systems at their disposal.

They also are a play to be the thing you do your AI queries on the most. While Google has been doing this for a very long time, Apple is also experienced and has recently cracked the problem of making Siri more aware of your life for queries.

Both are also going to be able to handle online processing of AI queries. That said, there's obviously more of an expectation for Google to handle it on its servers than with Apple.

As the public prepares to try out the improved Siri AI, it will be interesting to see if it's enough to make consumers fall back in love with Siri instead of looking at other AI alternatives.

It helps that Apple has a considerable lead here when it comes to processing. Both traditional smartphone app tasks and AI ones.

Obviously, both flagships are great examples for their respective ecosystems. Someone who is platform-agnostic will certainly be able to use each to navigate their digital lives.

There's nothing for Google to be ashamed of with its release. It's certainly a strong showing for an Android smartphone.

But at the same time, while it may have aimed to steal Apple's thunder, the big Siri AI push and the vast difference in performance is hard for the Pixel 11 Pro to overcome.

Where to buy Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Google Pixel 11 Pro

Deals on Apple's iPhone 18 Pro are in effect now, with wireless carriers offering up to $1,200 off via bill credits.

You can jump straight to the offers below or in our iPhone 18 Pro Price Guide:

The Google Pixel 11 Pro, meanwhile, is on sale at Amazon, with prices at press time dipping to as low as $1,014.31. You can also grab deals at carriers, with incentives bringing the device down to as low as $0/mo.