The iPhone 18 Pro has arrived with a new chip and camera refinements over the iPhone 17 Pro. Here's how Apple's latest Pro compares against last year's model.
Right on schedule, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro at its fall event as the new Pro edition to get. That is, if you don't want the massive Pro Max version.
The follow-up to the iPhone 17 Pro that introduced the aluminum unibody frame and vapor chamber cooling, the new model refines that formula rather than reinventing it.
This is how the iPhone 18 Pro compares against the iPhone 17 Pro with the specifications side by side.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Specifications
| Specifications | iPhone 18 Pro | iPhone 17 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price (launch) | $1,199 | $1,099 |
| Dimensions (inches) | 5.91 x 2.83 x 0.34 | 5.91 x 2.83 x 0.34 |
| Weight (ounces) | 7.44 | 7.27 |
| Processor | A20 Pro | A19 Pro |
| 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 Retina XDR, ProMotion, always-on display, 3,000 nits max |
| Resolution | 2,622 x 1,206 at 460 ppi | 2,622 x 1,206 at 460 ppi |
| True Tone | Yes | Yes |
| Biometrics | Face ID | Face ID |
| 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 Gen 2, NFC, Emergency SOS via Satellite, USB-C |
| Rear Cameras | 48MP Fusion Main with variable aperture, 48MP Ultra Wide, 48MP Telephoto with 8x optical-quality zoom, Camera Control | 48MP Fusion Main, 48MP Ultra Wide, 48MP Telephoto with 8x optical-quality zoom, Camera Control |
| Front Camera | 18MP Center Stage | 18MP Center Stage |
| Battery (Video playback) | Up to 36 hours | Up to 33 hours |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Glacier, Burgundy | Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue, Silver |
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Physical dimensions
The Pro is the smaller of the two upper-tier iPhone models in each generation, accompanied by the Pro Max variant. It is typically about the same size as the standard model of the generation, representing an upgrade in performance and capability.
The iPhone 17 Pro has a 5.91-inch length and 2.83-inch width, with a thickness of 0.34 inches. At 7.27 ounces, it was heavier than the titanium iPhone 16 Pro, owing to its switch back to an aluminum unibody design.
With no real change to the external design, the iPhone 18 Pro is practically identical when it comes to the external appearance. It's the same width, height, and depth as its predecessor.
The iPhone 18 Pro is a little heavier, though, at 7.44 ounces.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: Front and side view of the iPhone 18 Pro
The new model retains the Camera Plateau introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro, which stretches across the back of the device. This is a handy space Apple created, giving it a bit more room to make some internal improvements.
There is one unavoidable external change: color. The previous model used Silver, Deep Blue, and Cosmic Orange, while the new one is Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy.
With the exclusion of the standout Cosmic Orange from a year ago, the new range seems to be a little more grown up. If you want a playful Pro model, it's going to be through your choice of case.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Display
The iPhone 17 Pro used a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. It's a fairly large screen, if not the largest of the generation, but was still comfortable to hold.
At 2,622 by 1,206 pixels, it delivered 460 pixels per inch, the standard pixel density for Apple's Pro line. The Pro models also customarily had ProMotion, an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz.
The iPhone 17 Pro also raised outdoor peak brightness to 3,000 nits, with a 2 million-to-one contrast ratio. For normal indoor usage, you could count on a typical brightness of 1,000 nits, 1,600 nits for HDR content.
The iPhone 18 Pro carries over what seems to be the same 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR panel. The resolution, contrast ratio, ProMotion, and the 3,000-nit peak brightness are all in place.
The rest of the display feature set is unchanged, including Wide Color, HDR, and True Tone.
Really, the only change in the iPhone 18 Pro display is with the TrueDepth Camera at the top. It has managed to engineer the camera to take up a little less space, enabling iOS to use a smaller Dynamic Island and display up to three Live Activities at once.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Cameras
The iPhone 17 Pro introduced the Pro Fusion Camera System, with three 48MP sensors. The Fusion Main used an f/1.78 aperture with 100% Focus Pixels, as well as a second-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization (OIS) system.
The Fusion Ultra Wide covered a 120-degree field of view with an f/2.2 aperture, and used Hybrid Focus Pixels. The Fusion Telephoto reached a 4x optical zoom with a tetraprism design, Hybrid Focus Pixels, and an f/2.8 aperture.
Both the Fusion Main and Fusion Telephoto used a cropping trick to fake the creation of two more "optical quality" cameras. The Main was cropped to a 12MP 2x Telephoto, while the Telephoto became an 8x Telephoto.
This equates to an 8x optical-quality zoom-in and a 2x optical zoom-out, which Apple says is a 16x optical-quality zoom range. Add in digital zoom, and it gets to 40x overall.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: The camera plateau hasn't changed. There is a new variable aperture system this time around.
Computational Photography has been a big topic for Apple, helping improve the image quality for its users. The iPhone 17 Pro introduced an updated Photonic Engine that increased the use of machine learning to cut noise and improve color accuracy. There were also more Photographic Styles options available, too.
When it comes to the iPhone 18 Pro, most of the beats for the camera system are identical. The triple 48MP camera setup is there, as is the cropped camera, the 8x optical-quality zoom in, and the 16x optical-quality zoom range.
However, there is a headline feature change here for the Fusion Main, as it now has a variable aperture system. Instead of the f/1.78 of the iPhone 17 Pro's Main, the iPhone 18 Pro can shift between f/1.48 and f/4.0.
This is a massive upgrade for serious photographers, as a variable aperture can allow for specific parts of a photograph to be in focus while defocussing others. The six blades making up the aperture mean you can create that all-important bokeh blur for portraits as you're taking the shot.
That doesn't sound like that much to casual users who will be familiar with the existing computational blur that can be applied to images. But, for avid photographers who can see the occasional glitches and errors that the computational method can't properly handle, manual control will be a very welcome feature.
Combined with the new Pro Controls, which will give users more access to settings and features, it should allow for much more creative control over the results.
This isn't the only big camera feature. With the rise of AI, there's now an authentication system for the iPhone 18 Pro to confirm the shots you see are genuine and not generative AI.
Apple Reference Image will send signed sensor data to Private Cloud Compute to develop an "unalterable reference image," which can be viewed in Photos like a digital negative.
Again, for the average user, this doesn't seem like a major feature. But for journalists and anyone who relies on the accuracy of their images and trying to avoid accusations of using AI, this is a big move by Apple.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: The new variable aperture camera system - Image Credit: Apple
The front camera of the iPhone 17 Pro was upgraded to a new 18MP Center Stage camera. Its party trick was the use of a square sensor, so that users can switch between portrait and landscape orientations for selfies, but without needing to physically rotate the camera.
Despite the sensor change, it was still capable of using Face ID.
There's no real change here for the iPhone 18 Pro, though Apple has redesigned the Dynamic Island that hides it.
When it comes to video, the iPhone 17 Pro was capable of 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120fps, with a 30fps 4K Dolby Vision Cinematic Mode, 4K Dolby Vision Slo-mo at 120fps or 240fps for 1080p, and 2.8K Dolby Vision Action Mode at 60fps.
On the professional side, there was 4K ProRes video at up to 120fps with external recording, ProRes RAW support, Apple Log 2, Genlock Support, and Academy Color Encoding System support.
The iPhone 18 Pro follows a similar path, though Cinematic Mode effects now work at 4K 60fps instead of 30.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Processing and Performance
The A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro was a major step for performance, thanks to a massive thermal management trick. Apple added vapor chamber cooling to manage heat, claiming up to 40 percent better sustained performance than the A18 Pro.
The A19 Pro is a six-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores, which were the fastest in an iPhone at the time of release.
There was the usual 16-core Neural Engine, too, but this time Apple pulled a new trick with the GPU. Each of the six GPU cores had per-core Neural Accelerators, which meant the GPU could better assist the Neural Engine for AI and graphics tasks.
The iPhone 18 Pro moves to the new A20 Pro chip, using a 2-nanometer process and a new packaging technique to improve performance and power efficiency. This time with an even greater focus on AI.
The six-core CPU has two super cores and four efficiency cores, but this time Apple has added Neural Accelerators to those CPU cores too. Then there's the GPU, which is now a seven-core design that Apple says is 40% faster than the A19 Pro.
Again Neural Accelerators are at play here, and with one more core to play with too.
The Neural Engine has also been upgraded to a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Really, it's two 16-core Neural Engines working as a 32-core version, double that of the A19 Pro.
There's also a memory bandwidth boost as well, with Apple saying there's 50% more in the A20 Pro than the A19 Pro.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: Apple has made the vapor chamber cooling bigger and better in the iPhone 18 Pro.
We also have another factor to contend with this time around. While the iPhone 17 Pro added a vapor chamber cooling system to the A19 Pro, Apple expanded the concept in the A20 Pro.
The new version has three times more surface area than the original. Even better, with the memory now side-by-side with the main silicon instead of on top of it, both are now more efficiently cooled.
While we would normally give some form of benchmark score here, we simply can't this time around. Apple hasn't provided enough information in its press releases and product launch materials to create an estimate.
We will update this section when benchmark scores become available. Until then, we can safely say that the A20 will be better performance-wise, just not by how much.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Connectivity
The iPhone 17 Pro supported 5G across mmWave and sub-6GHz bands. Locally, it used Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
If you were in a blackspot, the iPhone 17 Pro included support for Emergency SOS via Satellite and Roadside Assistance via Satellite. These are very handy in an emergency if you're in a remote location.
A key change last generation was the Apple N1 wireless networking chip. This Apple-designed component handled Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread, improving Personal Hotspot and AirDrop performance.
The iPhone 18 Pro retains Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and the N1 wireless chip once again. However, Apple has continued its move toward in-house silicon with the C2 modem, which it says can provide faster uploads than the C1X while consuming 15% less energy.
The iPhone 17 Pro also used a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip and Thread, which helped power the iPhone's Find My features and for smart home connectivity, respectively. The back included NFC, used for Apple Pay as usual.
Once again, there's no change here for the iPhone 18 Pro.
In terms of physical connectivity, the iPhone 17 Pro had a USB-C port with a 10Gbps transfer rate. This is very much needed for transferring videos off the iPhone, such as when it is used for external video recording.
Apple hasn't changed the iPhone 18 Pro here either. It's still 10Gbps.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Power and Battery
The iPhone 17 Pro reached up to 33 hours of video playback, or 30 hours streamed. That was a strong improvement over the iPhone 16 Pro's 27-hour figure.
Fast charging on the iPhone 17 Pro hit 50 percent in 20 minutes with a 40W charger. Wireless charging reached up to 25W with MagSafe, when using a suitable charger.
Over on the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple claims there's up to 24 hours of "typical use" for a full battery. The video playback times do go up, with it capable of 36 hours for locally stored videos and 33 hours streamed.
Fast-charging now hits 50% charge in "around 15 minutes," according to Apple, when used with a 60W adapter or higher over USB-C. Using a 35W adapter and MagSafe Charger, it can get to 50% charge in about 30 minutes.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Other Features
Both carry an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
The iPhone 17 Pro handled submersion up to 6 meters for 30 minutes, but for most people, that meant it could handle the occasional splash with ease. Apple says the iPhone 18 Pro can do the same.
The iPhone 17 Pro had both the Action Button and Camera Control on the side, which the iPhone 18 Pro also maintains. The former could be used to trigger functions quickly, while the latter provided a capacitive shutter button that could be swiped for extra camera functions.
Crash Detection was present for automatic emergency assistance in the iPhone 17 Pro. Likewise, you can crash and get assistance automatically with the iPhone 18 Pro too.
Likewise, both models have Apple's suite of "via Satellite" features, including Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages, and Find My.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Capacity and Pricing
The iPhone 17 Pro started at $1,099 for 256GB, having dropped the 128GB tier used in the iPhone 16 Pro. It rose to $1,499 for the 1TB version.
Rumors said the iPhone 18 Pro would be more expensive, partly because of the ongoing memory crisis. Sadly, the rumors were right, but not painfully.
The base iPhone 18 Pro is $1,199, $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro, for a capacity of 256GB. The 512GB version at $1,399 and the 1TB at $1,799 are more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro counterparts, more so than the base model.
However, while the iPhone 17 Pro didn't have the 2TB option that the Pro Max had, there's no such limitation for the iPhone 18 Pro. You can get the 2TB variant for $2,399.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro - Worth the Upgrade?
When comparing new iPhone models with older versions, the general advice is that, unless there are a lot of changes to benefit your primary usage needs, you probably don't need to upgrade.
For a one-year difference between models, that's especially true. Quite frankly, this is very much the case here for most users.
The main things Apple have focused on are performance and the rear camera.
The switch to the A20 Pro chip with more GPU cores, memory bandwidth, and a sizable vapor chamber upgrade gives it a considerable leg up in terms of performance against the A19 Pro.
However, the real benefit is going to be in the AI field, thanks to those CPU core Neural Accelerators and the doubled-in-size Neural Engine.
On-device AI is going to be the biggest feature of the iPhone 18 Pro. If you're an advanced Siri user, or you rely on AI functions in apps a lot, then the A20's changes are going to be worth considering.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: the iPhone 18 Pro color range.
The photography element will be a good thing for those interested in the visual arts. It increases the flexibility of the camera sensor, enabling the iPhone 18 Pro to be used in much more creative ways, thanks to that variable aperture.
It's something that videographers and content creators will be keen to use. Journalists too, if they're used to using an iPhone camera, because of being able to prove an image is genuine and not generated by AI.
For iPhone 17 Pro owners, an upgrade after a single year is unlikely to be worthwhile unless one of the new features is a priority. For owners of older models, the iPhone 18 Pro represents a substantial generational leap.
Unless you're very pro-AI or photography-focused, a one-year upgrade probably isn't on the cards.
The exception is customers who are signing up with Apple Upgrade, the replacement for the iPhone Upgrade Program. They can certainly justify an early upgrade to the new model, so long as they agree to the terms of the plan.
What Apple has demonstrated with the iPhone 18 Pro is that the Pro line continues to grow through internal refinement. The bigger changes are once again inside the device rather than on the outside.
Where to buy Apple's iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro
Preorders for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro begin on Saturday, Sept. 12, and wireless carriers are expected to offer incentives to encourage shoppers to upgrade.
Jump straight to carrier deals at:
The iPhone 17 Pro, meanwhile, is also eligible for incentives with up to $1,099.99 in bill credits.
- T-Mobile: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for as low as $0/mo for 36 months*
- AT&T: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for as low as $0/mo with a qualifying trade and eligible plan*
- Verizon: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for as low as $22.91/mo for 48 months* *Terms and conditions apply, and offers are subject to change. Please see the carrier's site for details.
