iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Higher prices, big camera upgrade and a fun new colour
Key takeaways
- Apple has announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, with pre-orders in Australia opening at 10pm AEST on Saturday 12 September 2026 and phones on sale from Friday 18 September.
- The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $2,099, while the Pro Max starts at $2,299. That's a $100 price increase compared with last year, with the higher storage options costing as much as $900 more.
- The biggest upgrades include a new 48MP camera with variable aperture, the best battery life ever on a Pro iPhone, a faster A20 Pro chip, a smaller and more useful Dynamic Island, and a new AI-powered Siri.
- Apple has also unveiled the first-ever foldable iPhone called the iPhone Duo, which you can read about in our separate roundup as there's heaps to uncover.
Apple has taken the wraps off the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max and the rumours can finally be put to rest.
There are improvements across 4 key categories you'd care about the most: camera, battery, performance and improved Apple Intelligence features.
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max price, colours and availability date in Australia
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $2,099 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $2,299.
Both phones are available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB options. This is also the first time the iPhone 18 Pro will be available with up to 2TB of storage.
Here's a full rundown of the pricing:
| Model | New price | Last year's price |
|---|---|---|
Apple iPhone 18 Pro 256GB | $2,099 | $1,999 |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro 512GB | $2,499 | $2,399 |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro 1TB | $3,299 | $2,799 |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro 2TB | $4,499 | N/A |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max 256GB | $2,299 | $2,199 |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max 512GB | $2,699 | $2,599 |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max 1TB | $3,499 | $2,999 |
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max 2TB | $4,699 | $3,799 |
While the starting prices are $100 higher than last year, the higher storage tiers have jumped significantly more.
For example, the 1TB iPhone 18 Pro is up by $500, while the 2TB iPhone 18 Pro Max has jumped by a massive $900.
There are four colours: Black, Silver, Glacier and an all-new Burgundy, which looks very chic.
The aluminium frame and back glass now match in colour, so the whole phone looks more consistent front to back.
Pre-orders open at 10pm AEST on Saturday 12 September, a day later than usual and in line with the rumours we'd been seeing.
The phones go on sale on Friday 18 September.
You'll be able to buy them directly from Apple, on a plan through Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, or from retailers like JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.
The new iOS 27 software the phones ship with arrives as a free update for existing iPhones on Tuesday 15 September.
Improved battery life and faster charging
Apple is calling the iPhone 18 Pro Max's battery life the best ever on a Pro iPhone.
The iPhone 18 Pro gets up to 34 hours of video playback, while the Pro Max stretches that to 43 hours.
For general use, Apple says the iPhone 18 Pro Max is capable of up to 29 hours on a full charge.
Charging is quick too.
The iPhone 18 Pro can reach 50% in around 15 minutes on a wired charger, or about 30 minutes wirelessly.
On the iPhone 18 Pro Max, 5 minutes of wired charging can give you roughly 7 hours of video playback.
All-new A20 Pro chip and better performance
Inside is a new A20 Pro chip, which Apple says sets a new bar for a phone.
This essentially means faster everyday performance, graphics that are up to 40% quicker for gaming and double the AI processing power of last year's chip.
There's also a redesigned vapour chamber with three times the surface area of last year, which spreads heat more effectively and helps the phone maintain its performance for longer.
Camera upgrades
Apple is calling this the most advanced camera it has ever put in an iPhone, and most of it comes down to one word: aperture.
Aperture controls how much light gets into the camera and how much of your shot stays in focus.
The 48MP Fusion camera now has a variable aperture, which can help with low-light shots and keep people standing at the back of a group photo looking sharper.
You can also get more creative by manually choosing from four aperture settings yourself.
There's a new set of Pro controls in the Camera app, too.
You can manually adjust things like aperture, shutter speed and white balance, or use a histogram to check your exposure across the frame.
A few other features worth knowing include:
- Cinematic effects can now be added to regular video after you've shot it, at up to 60fps.
- Time-lapse now records in 4K and Dolby Vision HDR.
- Photographic Styles gets new texture and grain controls, so you can fine-tune the look of a shot.
- Audio Mix has been upgraded too, with better voice quality and the ability to isolate music in a clip.
- Apple Reference Image lets you prove a photo taken on an iPhone 18 Pro is authentic. When you shoot in the new Reference mode, the camera captures signed sensor data that gets turned into an unalterable reference image.
Changes to the Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island is now smaller and can show up to three Live Activities at once, so you could track a flight, follow directions in Maps and keep an eye on a timer at the same time.
It can still handle Face ID for unlocking and payments.
The new Siri AI
The biggest software change is Siri AI, an entirely new version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence.
Apple says it's more personal, more capable and more conversational. It can draw on your personal context to find what you need across apps like Mail and Messages.
Siri can also understand what's on your screen and take action based on it. That includes doing things inside your apps, including third-party apps like Audible and WhatsApp, or drafting an email in Outlook.
There's also a new dedicated Siri app on your home screen where you can revisit past conversations. Siri is built into the Camera app, too, so you can do things like add several events to your calendar in one go.
You can also use Siri to write and edit text wherever you type, simply by describing what you want.
Siri gets new Express voices with a more natural pace and expression, while dictation is now more accurate across the system.
The catch: Siri AI is still in beta
The new Siri will be available from Monday 14 September, in English to begin with.
More languages like French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish follow in October.
The rest of Apple Intelligence lands on Tuesday 15 September and supports 16 languages, including English.
The other thing to know is that some of the AI features that run in the cloud have daily usage limits.
Apple says expanded access will be available for a fee at some point in the future.
Apple's new payment plan and Apple One
Apple is also rolling out a new payment option in Australia called AfterPay Pay Monthly, available in Apple Stores, online or in the Apple Store app.
You'll be able to split the cost over 6, 12 or 24 months, subject to approval by Afterpay, which means you'll also need an existing Afterpay account.
If you buy an iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max, new and returning subscribers can also get 3 months of Apple One for free from 17 September.
Apple One bundles services like Apple TV, Apple Music and up to 2TB of iCloud+ storage into one plan.
Sources
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