iPhone 18 Pro Max vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: Main differences to expect

This September, aside from John Ternus taking the helm, Apple will be announcing the iPhone 18 series. Naturally, as in most previous years, the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be the crown jewel of the lineup.

As usual with Apple devices, the rumor mill is in full swing, giving us saucy tidbits of information about Cupertino's next flagship phone. Aside from a new hero color, Dark Cherry, the most intriguing change of the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be the smaller Dynamic Island due to some Face ID components going under the screen.

Other improvements include the annual chipset upgrade to the Apple A20 Pro chip, new variable aperture for the main camera, possibly a telephoto camera with a wider aperture, and finally, a larger battery in the back. 

This is shaping up to be quite the generational improvement over the iPhone 17 Pro Max. 

We expect that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will mostly follow after the iPhone 17 Pro Max's design language. Expect an aluminum build and a flat design language.

With the iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple will merely perfect the fairly new camera plateau design introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro generation, not get rid of it. What Cupertino revealed last year was an oversized camera island that spanned nearly side to side, but faced some criticism for the right-angled edges of the camera plateau, which wasn't very durable and chipped easily.

Apple might rectify that by making the corners of the camera plateau slightly curved, which would prevent most damage. There are also rumors about a glass element at the back, covering the vapor chamber, but the chances of that happening are very slim.

The most striking design difference between the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Pro Max would be the smaller Dynamic Island at the front. Reportedly, some Face ID components would be positioned beneath the screen, which would allow for the floating notch at the front to become even smaller and less intrusive. The front camera isn't going under the screen just yet, but slimming down the Dynamic Island is a step in the right direction.



In terms of size, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to be mostly identical to the iPhone 17 Pro Max in terms of overall dimensions. The general thickness will be kept at 8.75 mm, but reports indicate that the thickness with the camera bump might increase slightly.

In terms of colors, the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in an intriguing selection of colors, with the heavily rumored Dark Cherry (Pantone 6076) likely being the hero one. Apple has also reportedly been experimenting with other colors like Coffee Brown, Purple, and Burgundy, but the Dark Cherry one is said to be the winner.

The other colors in which the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available are reportedly Light Blue (Pantone 2121), Dark Gray (426C), and Silver (Pantone 427C).

The biggest improvement with the screen of the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be the smaller Dynamic Island at the front. Reportedly, the Face ID module on the left side of the notch would be significantly smaller (20.76mm wide on the iPhone 17 Pro vs ~13.49mm on the iPhone 18 Pro), massively improving the immersion. 

The device will retain its usual 6.9-inch ProMotion XDR OLED display, with the same peak brightness pushing past 3,000 nits. That's mostly similar to what the iPhone 17 Pro Max offered. 

One key new upgrade could be Apple's adoption of LTPO+ display technology.  LTPO+ (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) would deliver much finer control over the light emission and thus be much more efficient in comparison with Apple's older ProMotion-enabled displays, which are standard LTPO ones. This would be one of the key upgrades that could boost the iPhone 18 Pro Max battery life further. 

Every year, Apple upgrades the chipset in the iPhone, and this isn't changing in 2026. The iPhone 18 Pro Max will arrive with the Apple A20 Pro chip, which is built on a 2nm manufacturing node and would most certainly introduce major efficiency and performance gains. 

The more intriguing development on the hardware front could be the long-anticipated introduction of an in-house, Apple-made modem inside the iPhone 18 generation. Rumors point out that the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro will not be equipped with a Qualcomm chipset but instead Apple's own C2 modem. 

Using such a modem on the iPhone would be beneficial to the overall efficiency and potential battery life of the device. 

Both the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro Max will share the same amount of memory—12 GB on board. The minimum amount required for Apple Intelligence is 8 GB, and the Pro models deserve 4 GB of headroom that fits their status. 

The iPhone 18 Pro Max will arrive with iOS 27 right out of the box. We will be seeing our first glimpse at the next software version at the upcoming WWDC'26 developer summit, kicking off June 8. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max launched with iOS 27 and will certainly get its taste of iOS 27 this September either.  

The biggest upgrade with the iPhone 18 Pro Max camera would be a variable aperture for the main camera, which will be once again relying on a 48MP main sensor. 

A variable aperture would allow the camera to intelligently switch to a wider aperture in lower-light conditions or when the need for a shallow depth of field arises (most often when taking portraits). Conversely, the opposite narrow end of the variable aperture would boost the focus, sharpness, and detail in standard light conditions. 

The variable aperture components are reportedly being manufactured by Chinese firms Sunny Optical and Luxshare ICT. 

There has been speculation and expectations that Apple might eventually bring a Samsung-manufactured stacked 200 MP camera sensor to the iPhone, but this might take a couple of years more and isn't realistic to expect for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. 

What about the rest of the cameras? 

It doesn't seem like we are getting any serious upgrades to the telephoto and ultrawide cameras, meaning they'd most likely score no major hardware improvements from the iPhone 17 Pro Max. This means 48 MP sensors beneath either one. 

The same applies to the front camera as well: both the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 18 Pro Max will share the same 18 MP Center Stage camera which is genuinely better than older FaceTime iterations. 

Unlike Samsung, Apple has been giving us steady battery improvements in the past couple of years, increasing the capacity annually. Nonetheless, that's great to see!

The rumor mill is certain we'll see a battery that's 5,000+ mAh in capacity, and might even reach 5,200 mAh as per some reports and rumors. That would make it the iPhone with the largest battery on an iPhone so far. 

The iPhone 17 Pro Max had a 5,088 mAh battery, which helped it achieve excellent battery life. 

In terms of charging, we don't expect any significant upgrades. The iPhone 17 Pro Max already charges at up to 40 W with a compatible wall adapter, so it's safe to expect at least the same from the iPhone 18 Pro Max as well. An upgrade is less likely here. 

Here's a complete breakdown of the anticipated iPhone 18 Pro Max specs in comparison with the current iPhone 17 Pro Max specs. 

Overall, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is shaping up to focus on two main areas: efficiency and camera prowess.

The hinted upgrades to the display, the fast new chipset, and the larger battery hint that Apple wants the iPhone 18 Pro Max to be an undisputed battery champ. 

At the same time, the main camera might get one of the more exciting upgrades to the iPhone lineup in recent years.

Of course, none of these would be enough to warrant upgrading from the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The latter would be a top choice for years to come, as the iPhone 18 Pro Max is mostly geared towards users of the iPhone 14 Pro Max or earlier models.