The Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max arrives a year ahead of the anniversary iPhone, marking the series' most modest update to date, dressed in burgundy. It brings four main changes: a new chip, a variable aperture lens, a larger battery with faster charging, and a smaller Dynamic Island. The design remains the same as the 17 Pro Max, with new colors including Black, Glacier Blue, and Burgundy Red.

The 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display stays unchanged with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10 support. The Dynamic Island has shrunk as Apple moved the IR camera under the display. The new Apple A20 Pro chip, built on a 2nm node, offers more powerful CPU and GPU cores, a redesigned architecture, and a larger vapor chamber for improved cooling.

The highlight feature is the variable aperture lens on the 48MP primary camera, expanding photographic capabilities. The 48MP 4x telephoto, 48MP ultrawide, and 18MP selfie cameras remain the same. The battery has grown to 5,391mAh (physical SIM) or 5,567mAh (eSIM-only), with faster wired charging support.

New iPhones are rarely aimed at owners of the previous model, as Apple builds long-lasting hardware expecting users to hold onto devices for a few years. However, this doesn't excuse the minor upgrades seen recently, with Apple, Samsung, and Google all competing to upgrade the fewest features.