iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: All expected differences
Image by PhoneArena
In just a short while, this September, Apple will unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, the successor to a very successful iPhone 17 Pro.
Even before the official release, though, leaks and rumors already give us a clear picture: the iPhone 18 Pro will look and feel a lot like the 17 Pro, keeping that camera plateau design, the overall design and size, and the triple camera system.
It will be powered by a new Apple A20 Pro chipset, it should have a new camera with variable aperture and possibly slightly better battery life. Oh, and the signature color this year is said to be Deep Red.
All of that is nice, but the biggest news might not be about the upgrades at all. Apple's outgoing CEO Tim Cook has practically confirmed that because of increased memory prices, the iPhone 18 Pro will have a noticeably higher price this year.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro expected differences:
| iPhone 18 Pro | iPhone 17 Pro |
|---|---|
| Same design, same 6.3-inch size | 6.3-inch size with camera plateau design |
| Possibly, smaller Face ID cutout | Face ID in its usual form |
| A20 Pro chip | A19 Pro chip |
| New Apple-made C2 modem (in the US) | Qualcomm X80 modem |
| 5G Satellite Internet | Satellite only used for emergency services |
| Variable aperture main lens | Fixed aperture (f/1.78) main camera |
| Simpler Camera Control (no gesture control) | First-gen Camera Control with gestures |
| New colorways, four of them, including Deep Red | Three colors with signature being Cosmic Orange |
| $1,300 starting price | $1,100 starting price |
Table of Contents:
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Design and Size
No major changes
The iPhone 18 Pro is coming in four new colors | Image by Color renders by MacRumors
Last year, the iPhone 17 Pro introduced a new design with the massive camera plateau on the back of the phone and a switch to an aluminum frame, which is better at dissipating heat than titanium. And the iPhone 18 Pro is not going to change much of that. There is a rumor about a very slight increase in thickness, and there might be slight tweaks to the look with new colors, but that's about it.
Both phones will also have the same IP68 water and dust protection, as all iPhones have had in the past few years, so again, no change.
And while the two are said to share a 6.3-inch display size, the iPhone 18 Pro might get a smaller Face ID module. That's still not a certainty as rumors are split whether Apple can pull this off, but it seems more likely than not. A smaller Dynamic Island would make for less of a distraction when you watch full-screen videos.
|
|
| Apple iPhone 17e | Apple iPhone 17 |
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm (~9.71 mm with camera bump) | 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm (~11.4 mm with camera bump) |
| Weight | |
| 169.0 g | 177.0 g |
See the full
Apple iPhone 17e vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
There is also one small change to the Camera Control button. Rumors say it will no longer support gestures on the iPhone 18 Pro. When Apple first introduced the Camera Control, you could swipe it to zoom in and out, as well as control other camera functions, but people don't really seem to use these features, finding it instead easier to use the controls on the much bigger screen.
Display Differences
The iPhone 16 Pro and 17 Pro featured a 6.3 inch screen (up from 6.1 inches on the 15 Pro series) and with super slim borders around that screen, there is not much room for futher improvement before the phone becomes bigger. So the iPhone 18 Pro will also likely have the same 6.3-inch screen size with support for ProMotion of up to 120Hz.
|
|
|
| Apple iPhone 17e | Apple iPhone 17 |
| Size | |
|---|---|
| 6.1-inch | 6.3-inch |
| Type | |
| OLED, 60Hz | OLED, 120Hz |
See the full
Apple iPhone 17e vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Some leaks point to the iPhone 18 Pro using a new panel for the display and that could allow it to hit higher peak brightness numbers, but that is not a certainty.
We already mentioned the possibility of a smaller Face ID module, but Face ID itself will not change in terms of speed or accuracy.
Performance and Software
Faster and with more AI
The iPhone 18 Pro is expected to get the new Apple A20 Pro chip, but there will be no change in RAM (expect 12GB on all models) or storage configurations (256GB base model, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB options).
This new chip is exciting because it's a jump in technology. It will allegedly use TSMC's 2nm node, a big jump over the 3nm used for previous iPhones. Expect to see a 15-25% increase in CPU performance, but most importantly - changes to efficiency too.
|
|
|
| Apple iPhone 17e | Apple iPhone 17 |
| System chip | |
|---|---|
| Apple A19 (3 nm) | Apple A19 (3 nm) |
| Memory | |
| 8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB 8GB/512GB | 8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB 8GB/512GB |
| OS | |
| iOS (26.x) | iOS (26.x) |
See the full
Apple iPhone 17e vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Apple will tie the iPhone 18 Pro release to the new iOS 27 software, but of course, that is also coming to all iPhones released in the past few years, including as old as the iPhone 11).
However, not all features of iOS 27 will arrive equally to all iPhones. The new Siri powered by AI and the rest of the Apple Intelligence features are only supported by iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, as well as iPhone 16 and later. iPhones with 6GB or less such as the iPhone 15 or iPhone 14 Pro series will not support those features.
We have a deep dive into all the new iOS 27 features here, so check that out to get the full software picture.
There is some mystery to the modem on the iPhone 18 Pro. Latest rumors suggest Apple will use different modems depending on the region. The US model is set to use a Qualcomm modem which supports mmWave (a type of short-range, fast-speed 5G that is only used in the United States), while other markets are said to get Apple's home-made C2 modem, which support all other required bands but not mmWave.
Camera
Variable aperture
The camera plateau will not change on the iPhone 18 Pro, but the camera you use the most might get a big upgrade this year.
First, let's make it clear - the iPhone 18 Pro will have three cameras on its back, a main one, an ultra-wide one and a 4X telephoto one, same configuration as the 17 Pro.
The ultra-wide and telephoto ones are expected to remain unchanged in terms of hardware, but the main one is getting an upgrade.
The iPhone 18 Pro should be the first iPhone to use variable aperture, while previous iPhones have all used fixed apertures (the iPhone 17 Pro has f/1.78 aperture). A variable aperture means you can manually control how much light hits the lens. A wider aperture results in more light and a wider bokeh, while a narrower aperture does the opposite. The mechanical aperture in the iPhone 18 Pro might vary between f/1.6 and f/4, according to rumors.
In practice, a wider aperture might give better portrait mode shots with more natural bokeh, while stopping down the aperture might result in crisper landscape photos.
Some rumors claimed Apple might bring a Samsung-manufactured stacked 200MP main camera sensor to the iPhone 18 Pro, but it seems that is not happening after all this year (it might take much longer).
|
|
|
| Apple iPhone 17e | Apple iPhone 17 |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 48 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, OIS, Autofocus) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 48 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
|
| Front | |
| 12 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR, Slow-motion videos, Autofocus) | 18 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) |
See the full
Apple iPhone 17e vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Battery Life and Charging
Small changes in size, but software might make a bigger difference
iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max leaked battery sizes | Image by Screenshot from 3G certification database
We expect a very minimal change to the iPhone 18 Pro battery size and again, we are looking on two different battery sizes based on the region and eSIM/physical SIM support.
The iPhone 18 Pro is rumored to get a 4,056mAh (Global model with physical SIM card slot, sold in markets like Europe) / 4,288mAh (US model with eSIM). That is a minuscule 2% improvement over the iPhone 17 Pro, which features a 3,988mAh (global) / 4,252mAh (US model).
Those changes come from an Apple filing with the 3G Certification database in China, so that's as good an early confirmation as they get.
|
|
|
| Apple iPhone 17e | Apple iPhone 17 |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| 4005 mAh | 3692 mAh |
| Charge speed | |
| Wired: 20.0W Wireless: 15.0W |
Wired: 40.0W Wireless: 25.0W |
See the full
Apple iPhone 17e vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
As always, though, it's not just about the physical size of the battery and those bug fixes and efficiency tweaks in the software might give us a bigger than expected battery boost.
Charging speeds, however, are not expected to change. That means the iPhone 18 Pro should support 40W wired charging and 25W MagSafe wireless charging, same as the 17 Pro.
Specs Comparison
And here is a preliminary look at the iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro specs:
|
|
|
| Apple iPhone 17e | Apple iPhone 17 |
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm (~9.71 mm with camera bump) | 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm (~11.4 mm with camera bump) |
| Weight | |
| 169.0 g | 177.0 g |
| Size | |
|---|---|
| 6.1-inch | 6.3-inch |
| Type | |
| OLED, 60Hz | OLED, 120Hz |
| System chip | |
|---|---|
| Apple A19 (3 nm) | Apple A19 (3 nm) |
| Memory | |
| 8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB 8GB/512GB | 8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB 8GB/512GB |
| OS | |
| iOS (26.x) | iOS (26.x) |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| 4005 mAh | 3692 mAh |
| Charge speed | |
| Wired: 20.0W Wireless: 15.0W |
Wired: 40.0W Wireless: 25.0W |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 48 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, OIS, Autofocus) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 48 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
|
| Front | |
| 12 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR, Slow-motion videos, Autofocus) | 18 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) |
See the full
Apple iPhone 17e vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Summary
If you already own the iPhone 17 Pro, this looks like a minor upgrade. Unless you really want to be on the cutting edge of mobile technology, there seems to be no immediate need to upgrade.
The faster performance with the A20 Pro chip, the tweaks to the camera with the variable aperture main lens and the hopefully longer battery life will all be incremental changes.
Plus, we expect to see higher prices for the iPhone 18 Pro, which might actually discourage many users from upgrading.
I should note that next year, in 2027, we expect to see the 20-th anniversary iPhone, which is rumored to come with a bigger redesign and more ground-breaking new technology, so you might want to wait it out too.
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