Apple has finally launched the iPhone 18 Pro in India and global markets, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the new iPhone Duo. The latest Pro model brings a massive price hike over its predecessor, but it also offers several major hardware changes. From the new A20 Pro chip and variable-aperture camera to a redesigned Dynamic Island and larger vapor chamber, there is plenty to unpack. Here’s everything you need to know about the iPhone 18 Pro and how it compares with the iPhone 17 Pro.
Price In India: How Much More Are You Paying
Let’s start with the number that’ll sting the most. The iPhone 17 Pro launched at ₹1,34,900 for the base 256GB variant, going up to ₹1,54,900 for 512GB and ₹1,74,900 for the 1TB model. The iPhone 18 Pro, on the other hand, now starts at ₹1,64,900 in India, which is roughly ₹30,000 more than what the 17 Pro asked for at launch. Pre-orders for the new phone open on September 12, 2026, with units reaching customers from September 18. What I feel is that’s a fairly steep jump for a “Pro” upgrade, even by Apple’s own standards.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Vs iPhone 17 Pro: Specifications And Camera Compared
Both phones stick to a 6.3-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED panel with 120Hz refresh, HDR10, Dolby Vision, and peak brightness touching 3000 nits, so you’re not missing out much if you’re coming from the 17 Pro on the screen front. Where things do change is the overall design language, the iPhone 18 Pro gets a redesigned Dynamic Island capable of juggling up to three Live Activities at once, along with a fresh set of colours: Black, Silver, Glacier and Burgundy, replacing the Silver, Cosmic Orangeand Deep Blue options seen on its predecessor.
The iPhone 17 Pro runs on the A19 Pro chip, built on a 3nm process with a 6-core CPU and 6-core GPU. The all-new iPhone 18 Pro moves to the all-new A20 Pro, built on a tighter 2nm process, pairing a 6-core CPU with integrated Neural Accelerators and a 7-core GPU that the iPhone maker claims is up to 40 percent quicker. There’s also 50 percent more memory bandwidth and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, which Apple says doubles the AI processing muscle over the A19 Pro. To keep all that power in check, the US tech giant has fitted a redesigned vapor chamber with triple the surface area of the one on the 17 Pro, promising up to 40 percent better sustained performance during heavy use.
The 17 Pro already carried a solid triple-camera setup, a 48MP wide, a 48MP periscope telephoto with 4x optical zoom and a 48MP ultrawide, backed by a LiDAR scanner. The iPhone 18 Pro takes it further with a 48MP Fusion Main camera that introduces variable aperture, a first for any iPhone, using six laser-cut blades and four manual aperture settings that adjust automatically based on light and depth. Pro controls now let users manually tweak aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, with a histogram thrown in for exposure checks. Apple has also added something called Apple Reference Image, built to verify whether a photo has been edited after it’s taken.
Battery And Charging
The 17 Pro’s battery came in two flavours depending on the market, 3998 mAh for the Nano-SIM version and 4252 mAh for the eSIM-only model, with 25W wireless MagSafe charging and wired charging hitting 50 percent in 20 minutes. The iPhone 18 Pro’s eSIM-only variant is now rated for up to 36 hours of video playback, and wired charging is quicker too, reaching 50 percent in about 15 minutes, while wireless charging takes roughly 30 minutes for the same top-up.
