I Tested the iPhone 18 Pro Max: Here’s What You Need to Know (Video)

A few days before Apple's event I polled my channel on what would get you to upgrade your phone, and 45 percent of you said a big jump in battery life. Then Apple got on stage at Apple Park and said the iPhone 18 Pro Max has the best battery life of any iPhone it has ever shipped. So this one deserves your attention, even in a week when the folding iPhone Duo is soaking up most of it. After a day with the 18 Pro and Pro Max, the feature I most wanted to understand is a set of six tiny blades inside the main camera.

Those blades are a variable aperture, and it's the headline upgrade on both Pro models. Six thin polymer blades physically change the size of the opening that lets light hit the sensor, stepping between f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4. Open it wide and you gather more light. Close it down and more of the scene stays sharp regardless of distance. Picture a group shot with people in two rows: normally the front row looks great and the back row goes soft, and the aperture gives the camera a real way to handle that. It also changes how lights render, including a starburst effect around individual points of light. Most people will let the phone decide, but Apple is adding manual controls for aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, plus a histogram. Apple says the main camera gathers about 50 percent more light at its widest setting than last year's.

Two caveats. The variable aperture is on the main camera only (which includes the 2x crop), so the ultrawide and telephoto sit this one out. And blur created by the lens is baked into the capture. Unlike Portrait mode, you can't drag a slider later and undo it. Video goes the other direction on flexibility: footage shot on the main camera, including regular 4K at 60fps, can have a cinematic effect applied after recording, so forgetting to switch modes no longer costs you the shot. There are capture requirements, and it won't retroactively transform your old library. Focus tracking can now follow a selected subject even after they leave and re-enter the frame, Photographic Styles gains texture and grain options, and Audio Mix gets better at separating voices from music. ProRes RAW and Log 2 carry over, and they matter more this year because the iPhone Duo doesn't get them. The camera system is identical on the 18 Pro and Pro Max, despite rumors that only the Max would get the aperture or a longer zoom.

The phones come in 6.3 and 6.9 inch sizes, in black, silver, glacier, and burgundy, with the aluminum and back glass matched more closely than before. The black is very black, the burgundy reads dark, and nothing here is as fun as last year's cosmic orange. The more interesting visual change is the smaller Dynamic Island. Apple moved the infrared Face ID camera under the display, removing some pixels in that spot and driving the remaining ones twice as bright so the screen looks uniform. The selfie camera is still a cutout; only the Face ID hardware went under glass. The smaller island fits three Live Activities instead of two, so your flight, your music, and a timer can all stay on screen together.

The A20 Pro brings up to 20 percent faster CPU and 40 percent faster graphics than the A19 Pro, with memory moved beside the chip so heat has a more direct exit. Apple claims up to 40 percent better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro, helped by a redesigned vapor chamber. A quick burst of speed is easy; holding it after twenty minutes of gaming is what I want to test.

Battery is where the Pro Max earns its poll result. Apple rates the 18 Pro at up to 36 hours of local video playback and the Pro Max at up to 45. There's also a new typical use rating that mixes active and passive use, 24 hours for the Pro and 30 for the Pro Max, and that's the number I'd pay attention to. Wired charging finally catches up: both phones reach 50 percent in around 15 minutes with a compatible 60-watt adapter.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, each $100 more than last year, which is a smaller increase than a lot of us expected. Both start at 256GB and both now go to 2TB, where last year only the Max did. Pre-orders open Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. Pacific, with availability Friday, September 18. My launch-day take: the smaller Pro is the pick if you want the full camera system without the biggest phone, and the Pro Max buys you the bigger screen and Apple's strongest battery claim for another $100. The Duo deserves the attention it's getting as the first new iPhone shape since the iPhone X, but it gives up the telephoto, the variable aperture, and the ProRes and Log workflows. If you rely on those, the Pro is still your phone. What I'll be watching in the full review is how often these upgrades matter in practice: more people in focus, more flexibility after recording, speed that holds when the phone is warm, and a longer day on a charge.