Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at a product launch event held Tuesday at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. The company did not introduce non-Pro models such as a standard iPhone 18 or a Plus version. The event centered on Apple's first foldable phone, the "iPhone Duo," and the Pro models.
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max come with up to 2TB of storage and in four colors: black, silver, glacier and burgundy. Pre-orders begin Friday, with sales starting Sept. 18.
The biggest change in the iPhone 18 Pro is the camera. The 48-megapixel Fusion main camera features a variable aperture for the first time in an iPhone. Six blades adjust the aperture, allowing users to change the amount of incoming light and the depth of field depending on shooting conditions.
Apple also introduced a photo authentication feature for the AI era. "Apple Reference Image" leaves a signature on the pixel data captured by the main camera sensor at the moment of shooting and uses it to generate an unalterable reference image.
Both models carry the A20 Pro chip built on the latest 2-nanometer process, with a 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU and dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple said GPU performance is up to 40% faster than the A19 Pro and AI processing performance up to twice as fast. Memory bandwidth increased 50%.
Apple also strengthened cooling to sustain high-performance workloads longer. The A20 Pro is connected directly to a next-generation vapor chamber, with heat-dissipation area tripled from the previous model. Apple said sustained performance is up to 40% higher than the previous generation as a result.
Battery performance improved significantly as well. Apple said the iPhone 18 Pro Max delivers the largest gain in battery life in iPhone history. According to Apple's official Korean website, the Pro Max offers up to 43 hours of video playback. The iPhone 18 Pro can charge to 50% in about 15 minutes with wired charging.
In Korea, the iPhone 18 Pro is priced at 1.99 million won for 256GB, 2.29 million won for 512GB, 2.89 million won for 1TB and 3.79 million won for 2TB. The iPhone 18 Pro Max costs 2.19 million won for 256GB, 2.49 million won for 512GB, 3.09 million won for 1TB and 3.99 million won for 2TB. Prices for the 256GB models rose 200,000 won from the previous generation; the iPhone 17 Pro started at 1.79 million won and the 17 Pro Max at 1.99 million won. The increases widen for higher-capacity models.
In the U.S., the iPhone 18 Pro costs $1,199 and the Pro Max $1,299, each $100 more than their predecessors. The recent surge in memory chip prices contributed to the increases.
Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, is priced from $1,999 to $3,199 in the U.S. depending on specifications. In Korea, it ranges from 3.29 million won to 5.09 million won for the top configuration.
Prices for older iPhones also rose. Apple has typically cut prices on previous-generation models when launching new ones, but this time it raised prices for the iPhone 17e, iPhone 17 and iPhone Air by $100 each. It also raised the price of the iPhone 16, released about two years ago, by $100.
The iPhone 16's starting price rose to $799 from $699, while the iPhone 17e now starts at $699 and the iPhone 17 at $899. Apple discontinued the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, released last year.
