What the reviewers said
Digital Trends US
8/10Oct 18, 2026A refined iPhone that improves on the iPhone 17 and should last a long time; the camera, battery and performance are strong, with minor quirks.
- Excellent cameras for everyday photography
- Outstanding battery life and fast charging
- Blazing-fast performance with good heat management
- Bright, smooth 120Hz ProMotion display
- Compact design that is easy to use one-handed
- Telephoto photos could be sharper, especially at 8x
- 8x zoom struggles in challenging lighting
- Burgundy finish attracts fingerprints and smudges
- Occasional camera freezes under demanding conditions
- Auto-brightness behaves annoyingly
Tech Advisor UK
4.5/5Oct 9, 2026An excellent, polished iPhone with incremental upgrades. Its price rise and small gains make it a year to hold off unless upgrading is urgent.
- Colour-matched design with matt Silver finish
- Longer battery life and faster charging
- Variable aperture main camera
- Smooth 120Hz display and performance
- IP68 dust and water resistance
- Price increased by $100 over last year
- Mostly incremental upgrades over iPhone 17 Pro
- Siri AI deeper queries require ChatGPT
- Camera Control awkwardly placed for many users
- Heavier than previous generation
Trusted Reviews UK
4.5/5Oct 6, 2026An easy recommendation despite being more of an incremental S-style update. Strong camera, better battery life and class-leading performance, though no single big new feature.
- Much improved battery life for the size
- Great camera system with variable aperture
- Class-leading GPU performance with sustained speeds
- Nice colour options including black and burgundy
- Cooler running than iPhone 17 Pro
- No single huge update over iPhone 17 Pro
- Variable aperture gains are subtle in practice
- Camera Control underused, not used for new pro controls
- Slightly heavier than the 17 Pro
- Price increase over previous generation
The Guardian UK
No scoreOct 5, 2026An iterative upgrade over last year's great iPhone: faster chip, longer battery, better screen and camera, but modest changes overall. Expensive, though still among the best iPhones.
- Compact size with a very bright, crisp 6.3in screen
- Battery lasts about two days under typical use
- Faster A20 Pro chip with improved cooling
- Strong ultrawide, telephoto and main cameras
- Variable aperture adds creative control in low light
- Small upgrade over the iPhone 17 Pro
- Expensive, with price rise due to memory costs
- Heavier than the previous model
- Variable aperture makes only minor image differences for most shots
- Siri AI works best only with Apple's apps
Tom's Guide US
4.5/5Sep 20, 2026Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max bring the fastest phone chip and a variable aperture camera, with strong battery life, faster charging, and a $100 price increase.
- A20 Pro chip is the fastest tested in a phone
- New variable aperture main camera with more creative control
- Battery life improved over 17 Pro models
- Faster charging than previous iPhones
- Smarter Siri AI features
- $100 price increase over last year
- Heavier than predecessors
- Regular 18 Pro battery gain over 17 Pro is modest
A very good flagship with excellent cooling, strong battery life and a fun, customizable camera with variable aperture. Upgrade is measured, not dramatic, and pricier than before.
- Stellar performance and improved cooling via larger vapor chamber
- Great battery life, especially the Pro Max
- Variable aperture and manual controls make camera fun
- Bright, responsive display with smaller Dynamic Island
- Three simultaneous Live Activities in Dynamic Island
- Pricier than previous Pro models
- No base iPhone 18 model this year
- Over-brightens dark scenes and struggles with backlighting
- Minor refresh; no major lens or sensor upgrades
The Verge US
8/10Sep 16, 2026An iterative upgrade over the iPhone 17 Pro. The new variable aperture brings only marginal photo gains, though manual camera controls are a welcome addition.
- Manual exposure controls in native camera app, finally
- Marginal image quality improvements, especially in low light
- Variable aperture helps depth of field and Night Mode
- Sunstar photography is strong
- $100 more expensive than last year
- Manual exposure controls are tiny
- Higher storage tiers are quite pricey
- Aperture gains are subtle and hard to notice
TechRadar UK
5/5Sep 16, 2026A refinement of last year's Pro rather than a reinvention. Cameras with variable aperture and Pro controls are the biggest leap, plus long battery life and better thermals, though upgrading…
- Excellent camera system with useful Pro controls
- Variable aperture adds creative flexibility
- A20 Pro is very fast with long battery life
- Improved thermals and smaller Dynamic Island
- Burgundy and Glacier colors look attractive
- No major design changes from last year
- $100 more than the previous generation
Verdicts, pros and cons are short summaries in our words of each publisher's review; scores are as the publisher gave them. Specs are taken from the reviews' spec boxes — where they differ, we show the value most of them give; price is the US launch price of the base model. Read the originals for the full picture.
