iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: what has changed?

The main differences

Camera: the variable aperture

The 48-megapixel main camera now has a mechanical aperture with 4 settings: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0. To do this, 6 laser-cut blades open and close, just like in a system camera.

The iPhone 17 Pro had a fixed aperture of f/1.78. Anything you wanted to change about depth of field was done in software.

What you can do with it

By default, your iPhone chooses the setting itself, based on the light. In low light, the aperture opens to f/1.48, so more light reaches the sensor and you get less noise. In bright sunlight, it closes to f/4.0, so your photo doesn’t get overexposed.

You see the biggest difference in portraits. With an open aperture, the background becomes blurred optically instead of being calculated. This looks more natural than the Portrait mode the iPhone has had for years.

Manual controls in the Camera app

What’s new is that you set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO yourself. This gives you the same control as on a system camera.

If you shoot in automatic mode, nothing changes. The Camera app handles everything itself, as always. The manual controls are there for anyone who wants to use them.

2 new features in the Camera app

With Apple Reference Image, you check whether a photo is real or edited afterwards. This is useful at a time when AI images are hard to tell apart from real ones.

Photographic Styles also get new controls for texture and grain. These let you give your photos a film-like look without putting a filter over them.

Ultra Wide, telephoto and video stay the same

The Ultra Wide and the telephoto lens both have 48 megapixels, just like last year. You zoom in optically at 4x, and Apple also offers 8x in optical quality, at a focal length of 200 mm. This brings the total range to 16x in optical quality.

The selfie camera is still an 18-megapixel Center Stage camera. Nothing changes for video: 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120 frames per second.

The A20 Pro chip: better performance

The A20 Pro is the first chip in a phone made on 2 nanometres. The A19 Pro was still on 3 nanometres.

The graphics part goes from 6 to 7 cores, and the Neural Engine doubles from 16 to 32 cores. The Neural Engine does the computing for AI features that run on the phone itself, without the internet.

Where you really notice it

Apple states up to 40 percent higher sustained performance. The word ‘sustained’ is important. With short tasks, you notice little, as the A19 Pro was already fast. The difference is in what happens when you film or game for half an hour.

The redesigned vapour chamber helps with this. The cooling surface is 3 times as large as in the iPhone 17 Pro and now sits directly against the chip. As a result, the speed drops less quickly.

Apple’s own modem

The iPhone 18 Pro is the first Pro model with the C2, a modem Apple developed itself. Before, it had Qualcomm modems. In practice, you’ll notice little of this, but it is a step towards hardware that Apple makes entirely itself.

Display: a smaller Dynamic Island

The display itself has stayed the same. Both phones have a 6,3-inch display with ProMotion up to 120 Hz, Always-On and the same outdoor brightness of 3.000 nits.

What does change is Dynamic Island. It has become smaller and now shows 3 Live Activities at once instead of 2. So you see more at a glance, for example your navigation, your music and the score of a match.

The rumour about Face ID under the display was not true. That technology is not ready yet.

Battery: a big step forward

Battery life has clearly improved. Apple puts it this way: the iPhone 18 Pro now gets the same battery life as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. So you get the battery life of a much larger phone in the same size.

An exact comparison is difficult, because Apple uses a different measure this year. For the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple stated up to 31 hours of video playback. For the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple states up to 24 hours of normal use.

Faster charging

Charging is noticeably faster. With a 60 W adapter or higher, you reach 50 percent in 15 minutes. On the iPhone 17 Pro, that took 20 minutes with a 40 W adapter or higher.

Nothing changes for wireless charging: MagSafe and Qi2 at up to 25 W, good for 50 percent in half an hour. Neither phone comes with an adapter in the box.

Design, colours and storage

From the outside, you’ll hardly see a difference. Both phones have an aluminium unibody and Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, and are water-resistant to IP68 up to 6 metres.

The colours are new, though. The iPhone 18 Pro comes in Burgundy, Glacier, Silver and Black. The iPhone 17 Pro came in Silver, Cosmic Orange and Deep Blue. So black returns to the Pro series.

There is an extra storage option. Where the iPhone 17 Pro stopped at 1 TB, the iPhone 18 Pro now also comes with 2 TB. This is new for the smaller Pro model and especially useful if you film in ProRes.

Price: € 150 more

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at € 1.479 and the Pro Max at € 1.629. That is € 150 more than their predecessors, which started at € 1.329 and € 1.479.

More storage adds up quickly. For 512 GB, you pay € 1.729, for 1 TB € 2.229 and for 2 TB € 2.979. For the Pro Max, these amounts are € 150 higher each time.

The price increase affects the entire line-up. At the same time, Apple raised the standard iPhone 17 from € 969 to € 1.119 and removed the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max from its line-up. Providers and shops often still have them, at prices based on the old recommended price.

Pre-orders start on 12 September. The phones are in shops from 18 September.

Is upgrading worth it?

Coming from the iPhone 17 Pro, the answer is probably no. The display is the same, the design is the same and 2 of the 3 cameras are the same. You pay € 150 extra for a variable aperture, a faster chip and longer battery life.

Coming from a phone that is 3 years old or older, it’s a different story. You add up several generations of improvements and notice the difference every day.

Choose the iPhone 18 Pro if:

• you take photography seriously and want to use the variable aperture
• you film or game for long periods and benefit from the better cooling
• you need 2 TB of storage
• you are coming from a phone that is 3 years old or older

Stay with the iPhone 17 Pro if:

• you bought it last year and are happy with it
• you mainly shoot in automatic mode
• your phone’s battery life is still fine
• you would rather spend the € 150 on something else

How to do it at Simyo

Going for a different model after all? At Simyo, you combine an iPhone with a plan, so you spread the costs. See which phones are available on our page with iPhone models .

Still not sure which model suits you? Read which iPhone best fits your budget .

Already have a phone you’re happy with? Choose a Sim Only plan and put together your own bundles. You can change them every month, including to a smaller one.

Switching phones? First make a backup of your iPhone , so you don’t lose anything.

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