Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Costs $100 More Than Last Year. Here's Everything Else That Changed.
A new 2-nanometer chip, a variable-aperture camera and a $2,000 foldable were the headlines from Tuesday's event. The price increase applies across most of the lineup.
Meridians Tech Desk
Published 10 September 2026 · Updated 10 September 2026 · 4 min read
TechThe short answer
- The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 (256GB), $100 more than the prior generation; the Pro Max starts at $1,299, with the 1TB tier now $300 more than before.
- Both phones use the new A20 Pro chip, Apple's first 2-nanometer smartphone chip, with a 6-core CPU, a 7-core GPU up to 40% faster than the A19 Pro, and a 32-core Neural Engine.
- The 48MP main camera now has a variable aperture (f/1.48 to f/4) using six laser-cut blades. Battery life is rated at up to 36 hours of video on the Pro and 45 on the Pro Max, with a 15-minute wired charge reaching 50%.
- Apple also showed a foldable iPhone, priced around $2,000 with IP68 water resistance, requiring the $79 USB-C Apple Pencil; the Pro models go on sale September 18, with the foldable following in October.
Apple held its September hardware event on Tuesday, and the number that will land hardest with buyers isn't a spec. It's the price: the iPhone 18 Pro costs $100 more than last year's Pro model, and higher storage tiers cost even more than that.
Price and availability
- iPhone 18 Pro: $1,199 for 256GB, or $49.95/month for 24 months
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: $1,299 for 256GB, or $54.12/month for 24 months, with storage up to 2TB
- The 1TB storage tier is now $300 more than the equivalent option last generation
- Pre-orders open September 12 at 5 a.m. PT; phones ship September 18 in more than 65 countries, expanding to 20-plus more markets on September 25
- The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have been discontinued, and Apple raised prices on the iPhone 16, 17, Air and 17e as well
What's new inside
Both new Pro models run on Apple's A20 Pro chip, the company's first smartphone chip built on a 2-nanometer process. It pairs a 6-core CPU with integrated Neural Accelerators to a 7-core GPU Apple says is up to 40% faster than the A19 Pro, plus a 32-core Neural Engine split across two 16-core blocks. 'We've made advancements to camera, performance, battery, and intelligence, taking huge leaps forward to create the best Pro iPhone we've ever made,' said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.
The camera and battery
The 48-megapixel main camera gets a variable aperture for the first time, adjusting from f/1.48 to f/4 through six laser-cut blades, with 4K time-lapse video and Dolby Vision HDR, plus cinematic effects up to 60 frames per second. Apple rates the Pro for up to 36 hours of video playback and the Pro Max for 45 hours, with a 15-minute wired charge restoring about 50% of battery.
The foldable, and everything else Apple announced
Apple also showed its first foldable iPhone, priced around $2,000 with IP68 water resistance and described as the thinnest iPhone when unfolded; it works only with Apple's new $79 USB-C Apple Pencil and ships with iOS 27.1. New AirPods 5 start at $129 ($149 with a wireless charging case) and remove 50% more noise than AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation on. iOS 27 ships free on September 14, with a new 'Siri AI' rolling out in beta in English first.
Sources
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