188: Everything We Know About iPhone 18 Pro

Apr 3, 2026

Detailed rumors about a smaller Dynamic Island and under‑display Face ID shrinking the screen cutout. Talk of a thicker Pro Max to house a 5,100–5,200 mAh battery and a refined, seamless rear design with a special red finish. Deep dives into a variable‑aperture 48MP main camera, new three‑layer sensor tech, camera control simplification, and a 2nm A20 Pro chip with integrated RAM.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Hartley Says 17 Pro Ended His Battery Anxiety

Hartley shares his battery experience: iPhone 17 Pro delivered the best battery life he's had, eliminating his 'battery anxiety.'
He upgraded from iPhone 15 Pro due to poor battery and found the 17 Pro reliably lasts long days and flights.

INSIGHT

Back Glass Change Likely A Subtle Unification

The translucent back glass rumor is uncertain; Apple may instead color-match the back window for a more unified look.
Dan says the 18 Pro will mostly refine the 17 Pro design with small tweaks rather than a full redesign.

INSIGHT

Smaller Dynamic Island From Under-Display Face ID Move

The Dynamic Island will shrink because Face ID's flood illuminator is moving under the display, narrowing the cutout by ~35%.
Dan frames this as another step toward an eventual all-screen iPhone with under-display sensors over multiple generations.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through everything the iPhone 18 Pro will feature, according to the latest rumors.

Following last year's major redesign, the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ models are expected to feature a very similar design to their predecessors. There is expected to be a smaller Dynamic Island, with Face ID's flood illuminator component moved under the screen to reduce the cutout's size. It is rumored to be approximately 35% narrower than the iPhone 17 Pro's, shrinking from around 20.7mm to 13.5mm. The Pro Max will be slightly thicker than its predecessor, rising to around 8.8mm and over 240 grams to accommodate a larger battery of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh, up from the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max's 5,088 mAh.

The rear will see a slight design shift as well. Apple is reportedly dropping the two-tone look found on ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ models in favor of a more seamless aesthetic, with improved alignment between the Ceramic Shield back glass and the aluminum frame. The devices are also expected to come in a special red color.

The camera system will undergo more substantial changes. Both Pro models' main 48-megapixel Fusion camera are rumored to feature variable aperture, which would allow users to control the lens opening to manage light intake and depth of field. The aperture would function similarly to a DSLR camera, giving photographers greater control over focus sharpness and background blur in different lighting conditions. Additionally, Samsung is developing a new three-layer sensor for the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌, designed to reduce noise, improve dynamic range, and enhance camera responsiveness compared to Sony's current sensors.

The Camera Control button is also getting a simplification. Rather than supporting both capacitive touch gestures and pressure sensing as on the iPhone 17, the iPhone 18 will rely on pressure sensing alone, reducing manufacturing complexity and the cost of repairs, while improving ease of use.

The A20 Pro chip will mark Apple's debut of a 2-nanometer processor, with a reportedly 15% speed increase and about 30% better power efficiency compared to the A19 Pro. The chip will use TSMC's Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Moduletechnology, integrating RAM directly onto the same wafer as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine rather than mounting it separately, which should improve performance and battery life while reducing the physical footprint of the chip.

The ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ models will also feature Apple's C2 modem, which is expected to bring faster speeds, improved power efficiency, and support for mmWave 5G in the United States, a capability absent from the C1 and C1X modems used in earlier iPhones. Other upgrades include Apple's N2 wireless chip and 5G satellite internet.

The ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max are expected to launch in September 2026, with the standard ‌iPhone 18‌ and the lower-end iPhone 18e following in spring 2027. A foldable iPhone is also expected to debut alongside the Pro models in the fall.