The iPhone 18 Pro is shaping up to be a compelling upgrade for owners of the iPhone 15 Pro, spanning three generations of improvements across the display, cameras, performance and battery. While the phone is expected to arrive in late September 2026, one significant drawback looms over the picture: a considerably higher price.
According to current expectations, the iPhone 18 Pro could start from around £1,020 for the base model, roughly £235 more than the £785 starting figure of the iPhone 15 Pro at launch. The rise is linked to sharply increasing RAM prices over the past year, which are said to have climbed several times over.
Design and Display Changes
The iPhone 18 Pro moves to a 6.3-inch display, up from the 6.1-inch panel on the iPhone 15 Pro. It uses more efficient LTPO+ technology and an anti-reflective coating, alongside a higher 3,000-nit outdoor brightness. It is also better suited to night-time viewing, dropping below 1 nit, whereas the 15 Pro peaks at 2,000 nits and can only go as low as 2 nits.
The newer model is slightly larger, thicker and heavier, expected to weigh around 206 grams compared with 187 grams for the 15 Pro. Its Face ID and Dynamic Island are said to be roughly 35% narrower. The iPhone 18 Pro also inherits the camera plateau design from the previous generation, marking a clear visual departure from the 15 Pro.
A notable material shift sees the iPhone 18 Pro built from aluminium, which dents and scratches more readily than titanium but offers better heat dissipation. The iPhone 15 Pro was Apple’s first with a titanium frame. Both phones retain IP68 water and dust resistance.
Performance, Camera and Battery
Under the bonnet, the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to feature the A20 Pro, Apple’s first 2nm iPhone chip, paired with 12GB of RAM. By comparison, the 15 Pro uses the A17 Pro built on first-generation 3nm technology with 8GB of RAM. The new model also adopts a vapour chamber inherited from the 17 Pro for improved sustained performance, and in the US it introduces an Apple-made C2 modem in place of the Qualcomm component.
The camera system sees changes across every lens. The main camera gains a variable aperture ranging from f/1.4 to f/4.0, replacing the fixed f/1.78 lens on the 15 Pro. The ultra-wide moves to a larger 48MP sensor, up from 12MP, while the telephoto extends to 4X from 3X with a larger sensor. The front camera uses an 18MP Center Stage square sensor with Dual Capture support, compared with the older 12MP unit.
Battery life is rumoured to see bigger gains, with faster charging also expected. The Camera Control on the 18 Pro is described as simpler, dropping the gesture support found on the first-generation implementation in the 15 Pro. The iPhone 18 Pro is expected to start from around £1,020, while the 128GB
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Image: phonearena.com
