The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are coming in September, and if the leaks are to be believed, Apple is delivering one of its more meaningful generational steps in recent memory.
Variable aperture on the main camera, a rebuilt AI assistant, and a battery upgrade are among the changes coming this time and there's a lot to look forward to – even if the price hike makes it a harder sell than usual.
Here are the seven features I'm most excited about.
A variable aperture lets the lens opening adjust dynamically based on lighting conditions and the kind of shot you're going for. A wider aperture pulls in more light in dark environments and produces a creamy background blur excellent for portrait photography, while a narrower one keeps more of the scene in sharp focus.
It's a feature long reserved for DSLR cameras and a handful of Android flagships, and its arrival on the iPhone 18 Pro Max feels like a genuine milestone. Multiple leaks have corroborated this one, including analyst Jeff Pu and reports naming Sunny Optical and Luxshare ICT as the actuator suppliers – so confidence is reasonably high.
The A20 Pro chip
The A20 Pro is reportedly built on TSMC's 2nm process, and that's a bigger deal than the usual annual chip refresh. Leaks put the gains at around 18% faster performance and 30% better power efficiency compared to the A19 Pro inside the iPhone 17 Pro – and the 2nm node is what makes those numbers possible.
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Beyond raw speed, the A20 Pro is said to introduce WMCM packaging, which places the processor and memory side by side rather than stacked, helping the chip run cooler under heavy tasks, which means even less throttling and improved performance.
A significantly larger vapor chamber is also reportedly coming. All of that points to Apple putting serious thought into not just peak performance, but maintaining it during demanding tasks like gaming and on-device AI processing.
A much bigger battery
Alleged iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max battery capacities. | Image by Lanzuk
Battery size is the one area where iPhones have historically lagged behind the Android competition, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max is reportedly making a serious push to close that gap.
The iPhone 18 Pro is also expected to see a modest bump. iOS 27's software efficiency improvements and the new C2 modem are both said to contribute to better endurance on top of the hardware upgrade – so the real-world gains could be more noticeable than the mAh figures alone suggest.
One quick note worth mentioning: Apple doesn't officially disclose battery capacities in mAh, so the figures cited above are estimates based on leaked specifications and measurements from previous iPhone generations by outlets including PhoneArena – treat them as educated approximations rather than confirmed specs.
The Apple C2 modem
Apple C2. | Image by PhoneArena
Apple's second-generation in-house modem has been a long time coming, and the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are reportedly where it finally arrives. The C2 modem is tied to two features worth highlighting: a potential satellite 5G fallback for areas with no cellular coverage, and a Limit Precise Location feature that restricts how much location data your carrier can pull from your device.
The second one in particular is the kind of privacy upgrade that doesn't make headlines but matters quite a bit in practice. The feature limits the amount of location data that your carrier can pull from your phone.
Combined with the A20 Pro and the N2 wireless chip – which should improve AirDrop, Personal Hotspot reliability, and Wi-Fi speeds – connectivity is shaping up to be a genuine strength of this generation.
LTPO+ display with M16 material
iPhone 17 Pro Max. | Image by PhoneArena
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are reportedly making the jump to LTPO+ display technology, which goes a step further than the LTPO panels in current Pro iPhones. Standard LTPO gives the display control over refresh rate and power draw, but LTPO+ adds per-pixel current regulation – meaning the screen can adapt dynamically to whatever is on it and consume significantly less power in the process.
Samsung Display and LG Display are both expected to supply panels for the lineup. On top of the technology upgrade, a new M16 material is also reportedly coming to both models, promising greater color accuracy and improved luminous efficiency.
iOS 27 and Siri AI
Siri AI and Apple Intelligence in iOS 27. | Image by Apple
Apple announced Siri AI at WWDC 2026, and the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will ship with it out of the box via iOS 27. This is the generative AI rebuild of Siri that users (me included) have been waiting for: Siri AI can see what's on your screen, understand personal context, process natural language more reliably, and take actions within apps on your behalf.
It's also getting a standalone app where past conversations are stored, similar to ChatGPT or Gemini. iOS 27 also brings Apple Intelligence deeper into the system – Safari is gaining automatic tab grouping, Photos is getting Extend and Reframe editing modes, and Image Playground can now generate custom wallpapers and contact posters.
The Home and Shortcuts apps are also picking up the ability to build automations using plain language. Software is half the experience of any iPhone, and iOS 27 looks like a meaningful step forward, if you ask me.
A stunning new Dark Cherry color
What the Dark Cherry color may be. | Image by Apple Hub
Apple reportedly spent time experimenting with Coffee Brown, Purple, and Burgundy colors before landing on Dark Cherry as the new signature color for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup – and based on everything that has leaked, it was the right call.
Multiple sources describe it as a purplish-red, almost like the fruit itself: deep, rich, and closer to burgundy than anything Apple has offered on a Pro iPhone before.
Prolific leaker Fixed Focus Digital confirmed the darker of the two circulating interpretations is the correct one, and a separate leak described the shade as a mix of burgundy, coffee, and deep purple, with Pantone 6076 cited as the closest reference point. If I were to buy the iPhone 18 Pro, that color would frankly be the one I'd go for.
The full lineup is also expected to include Light Blue, Dark Gray, and Silver – but Dark Cherry is the one that has people talking, and rightly so.
Curious to read more about the iPhone 18 Pro? Check these out:
Iskra Petrova is a news writer at PhoneArena, where she covers mobile tech news and maintains the site’s device hubs with the latest leaked specs, rumors, and official details for upcoming phones. She joined PhoneArena in 2020 after three years in technical support for Microsoft Exchange, giving her practical experience with software infrastructure and troubleshooting. Iskra holds a Master’s Degree in Literature, which helps her translate complex tech details into clear, reader-friendly coverage. She is a daily Apple ecosystem user, while also closely following Sony Xperia’s camera-focused phones and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip series.
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