iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

[Apple Mac Daz]

My 16 PM will last another year if that’s all it’s getting

 

[Gengar]

These colors look better matched than the two-toned look of the 17 Pro devices.

 

[ikramerica]

For whatever it is worth, I wouldn’t get variable aperture to increase depth of field on a phone camera. What variable capture can do and would be of value to me, is by reducing the light reaching the sensor it increases how bright a scene can be without blowing out the highlights. Phones – and standard cameras – attempt to avoid highlights blowing out by increasing shutter speed and decreasing ISO, which is the sensor sensitivity. But closing down the aperture provides an additional control that gives more flexibility and can avoid highlights blowing out in a wider range of conditions. Technically, this does not increase the dynamic range, which is a factor of the sensor and software. But it does increase the range of situations where you can make pictures without highlights blowing out.

Yes, a huge problem on iPhones that should have at least been soled through multi-capture processing, the same way they have improved low light photography.

 

[JulianL]

I'm going to go against what seems to be the flow here and say that I think this year's Pros are going to be really interesting upgrades if all of these rumoured features are delivered.

A genuine jump in SoC geometry rather than the variant on 3nm we saw last year plus new LPTO+ display and new C2 modem when all taken together might well contribute to noticeably better battery life and more satellite capability from a new C2 modem will be useful to some I would think. Also who knows what the N2 chip will deliver but Apple doesn't tend to do change for change's sake so hopefully some worthwhile improvements might come from that in terms of some or all of improved power efficiency, speed and connection stability.

I accept that none of that is ground-breaking but all taken together that seems to me to be a pretty solid upgrade. I note that there was no mention of a slightly thicker chassis for (possibly) a bigger battery, another rumour that until now has been mentioned in a lot of these "what to expect in the 2026 iPhone Pro" articles but if that is still likely then that plus improved power efficiency for all of the SoC, display and modem could make for a really big jump in battery life of a magnitude that is not often seen in year-on-year upgrades.

Personally I'm not interested in the camera and I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to photography but I assume that for some that do understand this stuff and know what they are doing then maybe that variable aperture thing is a big deal.

The one thing said in quite a few other comments that I do agree with is being pretty disinterested in tweaks to the dynamic island as in making it slightly smaller. Having it there doesn't bother me too much and I doubt I'll even notice if it gets slightly smaller. It would be nice I suppose if it wasn't there at all but that's not high on my priority list.

As for the colours, that's so subjective. As an I-always-go-for-black (in pretty much any device/gadget) kind of guy I adjusted just fine to adopting the dark blue 2025 Pro Max as my dark colour - I don't really notice that it isn't actually black any more so if this year's colours are like like the ones shown in the photo in this article then I'll probably be just fine with the dark grey.

I usually update my phone every year regardless but if all of this does pan out then this is one year when I'll actually be quite excited about the upgrade.

 

[satchmo]

Much prefer the uniform colour of these compared to the 17's.

I'd wait to see in person how uniform the actual colour will be.

Apple website vs real world photo.

[

 

[MarkNewton2023]

Black and silver are definitely the winners from all four for me. Too bad, red did not make it. Dark cherry is too dark for my taste. Blue is neutral. Orange was the best for me. Thankfully, I will choose foldable from this year going forward either black or silver.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

until Apple stops giving it iOS updates, or there truly is a monumental update other than spec bumps.

You can squeeze out a few more years I’m sure, the 14 is a great phone. I have my doubts though that there will be any more monumental updates in the foreseeable future.

 

[gomichaelgo]

that dark cherry color is so ugly. But the blue, that is the one i would get.

 

[horsefeathers]

I’ll keep the 16e.

I actually refuse to purchase a newer iPhone model until they fix the back. The design is atrocious and I won’t support it with my wallet. Hire better engineers.

 

[CatInABox]

All well and good - but how will that really make a difference over the current iPhone?

 

[mistabrad]

wake me up when the gimmick of "dynamic island" is gone.

I kinda agree. I feel like it’s more invasive and distracting than the notch was. Maybe I’m remembering it wrong, but on my 17 Pro Max it feels like it wastes more vertical space than the notch did before the island was introduced. That little sliver of visible screen above the island is worthless.

 

[Veinticinco]

Yeah…

• Simplified Camera Control: Apple is expected to simplify the Camera Control button on the iPhone 18 Pro models, by removing touch sensitivity and haptic feedback. The redesigned button will only have pressure sensitivity.

…is NOT a feature. Simplify? That’s a euphemism and a half.

Call it what it is, a component DOWNGRADE.

 

[switz]

Some years it seems like the year on year upgrade is like a second small piece of chicken in a can that is then called improved chicken soup.

Really folks, use Apple's iPhone comparison tool and one can see three models at once: like a 15, 16 and 17 iPhone Max Pro or what ever trim line one likes. It is very startling to see how little was changed in each model. The two big changes for the 17 Pro Max were 48 MP for all three cameras and a 2TB storage option and insignificantly larger so that the 16 cases could not be reused.

 

[Darajavahus]

So basically nothing...

 

[macbookj0e]

I'd wait to see in person how uniform the actual colour will be.

Apple website vs real world photo.

[View attachment 2623594View attachment 2623592

Yes good point.

 

[transpo1]

It will never be gone. I’m betting when the hardware vanishes it stays as a software only feature (appearing and disappearing completely on demand).

Sure will! Because they’ll probably still have a hole punch cutout.

 

[trip_smoke]

All I really want is LE Audio. Streaming to hearing aids with MFi is so, so terrible.

 

[PhillyFromWest]

I’ll be due an upgrade next February, but this sounds a bigger upgrade than going from the 14 pro to the 16 pro. Main thing I liked was having a USB C port, as lightning cables and/or ports meant regular disconnections with Apple CarPlay stereo, or using 5G tethered to my windows 11 pc for faster internet. I just hope the new Apple modem is as good if not better for 5G speeds as I’ve managed 1.5gbps on Vodafone with mast just under a mile away. But wish they could improve the connection to windows 11 Pc, because after getting 1.5gbps on Speedtest iOS app, do the same on windows app and get less than half speed. Not sure if ‘Apple Devices’ app is the problem, the USB driver(s), because if you click a n the different network adapters in use, the device me used for phone only shows 100mbps link speed, even though I can get over 600mbps on a good day.

One thing that has shocked me with iPhone 16 pro is how easily the screen picks up quite deep scratches. All previous phones have had small scratches that you can barely feel, but have quite a deep one on 16 pro which you can feel with thumb nail. And got a decent case for it. But definitely looking forward to it.

 

[blenderman17]

So they're just experimenting in ugly colors atp. 😫

 

[SmugMaverick]

The only "features" I care about in that list is the C2 chip and the newest display from Samsung

The C1X has been phenomenal on my Air while the 17 Pro was donkey and one of the reasons I returned it.

 

[svish]

Good to see yearly camera improvements. Disappointing if the rumored red is going to be this shade. Satellite features will be available only in a few markets.

 

[Iridescent Caterpillar]

Need that dark cherry color for the Fold/Ultra!!!!

However I'm expecting Black and/or White options be the only ones we get.

 

[Turbonow]

Will there be an aperture control feature on app, along with the new physical aperture? That will be quite confusing with the virtual aperture on portrait mode?

 

[RashyIsBack2]

wake me up when the gimmick of "dynamic island" is gone.

Gosh, some people really have issues it seems...

Neither the notch, and even less the small dynamic island are a dealbreaker for 99% of all users. It units a ton of various components and sensor, while taking up minimal screen space. Especially on a 6.3" and more so a 6.7" or 6.9" there is plenty of space left for any kind of content. A punchhole cutout would still be a cutout. Barely any improvment that brings daily-life benefits, lol.

I like the island, both in its design and functionality. The only small thing to critizize is that it hides the signal type (4G, 5G...) when expanding, even though there would be enough screen space left, so this is more of a GUI issue, not a hardware one.

Personally I am super happy with my blue iPhone 17, its island, the slim bezels and everything else. The 18 series is probably going to be a small upgrade this time, and I am totally fine with that. Leave the big stuff of the 20th aniversary phone.

 

[SiXiam]

Yep! I can't find a single reason to even consider replacing my 16 Pro. Even if the battery was an issue, which it's not, I'd just have it replaced.

A better cellular modem I would appreciate. Also the 17 Pro has a clearer camera zoom than our 16 Pro's, so the 18 should be as least as good. That's all I can come up with. Everything else is minor and the aluminum frame and less complicated camera button are downgrades. So I'm with you I'll just wait until 19 or 20. Maybe by that time the Fold will be more price competitive.