Apple last week announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, arriving two years after the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Skipping a generation means more than 50 differences between the 2024 and 2026 models.

Most visible change arrived with the iPhone 17 Pro, which replaced the titanium frame and glass back with an aluminum unibody and Ceramic Shield 2, added vapor chamber cooling, and upgraded cameras. This year's update focuses on internal changes: the A20 Pro chip, variable-aperture Main camera, smaller Dynamic Island, and a battery capacity increase delivering the largest jump in battery life in iPhone history. For iPhone 16 Pro owners, the two sets of changes stack.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB, $200 more than the iPhone 16 Pro's $999 launch price, though entry storage doubled from 128GB. Apple no longer sells the iPhone 16 Pro directly, so any comparison involves either a device you already own or a third-party listing.

Design changes include aluminum unibody, 8.75mm thickness, Ceramic Shield 2 front with 3x better scratch resistance, anti-reflective coating, 3,000 nits peak brightness, and a smaller Dynamic Island supporting three Live Activities. The iPhone 18 Pro weighs 7.44 ounces (211 grams); the Pro Max weighs 8.78 ounces (249 grams).