Overview
- Apple officially revealed the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at its 'Surprise and Shine' event on Wednesday, confirming the A20 Pro system on chip built on a 2nm process and a 48MP main camera with a physical variable aperture.
- Preorders open on September 12 and units ship on September 18, with U.S. starting prices raised to $1,199 for the iPhone 18 Pro and $1,299 for the Pro Max.
- Apple introduced new camera software and authenticity features, including manual pro controls, 4K Dolby Vision timelapse, support for Google’s SynthID, and a cryptographic 'Apple Reference Image' that signs photos at capture.
- The A20 Pro combines a 6‑core CPU with two high‑performance cores, a 7‑core GPU, an expanded 32‑core Neural Engine, a larger vapor chamber for cooling, and a new C2 modem to boost on‑device AI and network uploads.
- Pre‑event screenshots claiming a Verizon AI assistant leaked complete specs were unverified and contained errors, and analysts warn 2nm chip yields and memory costs helped push prices up while Apple concentrates scarce components in premium Pro models.