The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 with 256GB, and against the two-year-old iPhone 16 Pro it brings a 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, a variable aperture main camera, up to 36 hours of video playback versus 27, and a storage ceiling that has doubled to 2TB. The screen size is the same 6.3 inches, and the frame is aluminum rather than the 16 Pro’s titanium.
Two-year upgrades are where the numbers start to add up. Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro press release, covered in our iPhone 18 Pro announcement roundup, compares the new phone to the 17 Pro, so this piece lines it up against the 16 Pro using Apple’s own published specifications for that model.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: spec comparison
| Spec | iPhone 16 Pro (2024) | iPhone 18 Pro (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.3-inch OLED | 6.3-inch |
| Chip | A18 Pro, 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU | A20 Pro (2nm), 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine |
| Main camera | 48MP Fusion, f/1.78 | 48MP Fusion, variable aperture f/1.48 to f/4 |
| Telephoto | 5x optical, tetraprism | Not detailed in Apple’s release |
| Front camera | 12MP | No change announced |
| Video playback | Up to 27 hours | Up to 36 hours (eSIM-only model) |
| USB-C | USB 3, up to 10Gb/s | Apple has not published |
| Storage | 128GB to 1TB | 256GB to 2TB |
| Weight | 199 g | Apple has not published |
| Frame | Titanium | Aluminum (17 Pro design carried over) |
| Colors | Black, White, Natural, Desert Titanium | Black, Silver, Glacier, Burgundy |
| US starting price | $999 (128GB) at launch, not verified | $1,199 (256GB) |
What two years of upgrades actually change
The chip gap is two generations wide. Apple’s figures for the A20 Pro are relative to the A19 Pro, not the A18 Pro: a GPU up to 40 percent faster, a dual 16-core Neural Engine with double the AI processing, and 50 percent more memory bandwidth. Apple has not published a direct A20 Pro to A18 Pro comparison.
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The camera change is easier to picture. The 16 Pro’s main camera has a fixed f/1.78 aperture, while the 18 Pro’s six-blade variable aperture runs from f/1.48 to f/4 and adds manual aperture and shutter speed controls to the Camera app, along with Smart Focus subject tracking and a faster Night mode.
Battery is the most concrete gain. Apple rates the 16 Pro at up to 27 hours of video playback and the 18 Pro at up to 36 hours, a nine-hour difference, and the new phone charges to 50 percent in about 15 minutes on a cable. The 18 Pro also adds the N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, plus Apple’s C2 modem.
Where the iPhone 16 Pro still holds its own
The 16 Pro has a dedicated 5x tetraprism telephoto camera. Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro release does not describe the telephoto lens at all, so we cannot say how it compares, and Apple also did not announce changes to the Ultra Wide or front camera on the new phone.
The 16 Pro is also the lighter, titanium phone at 199 grams. Apple has not published a weight for the iPhone 18 Pro, which keeps the aluminum design of the 17 Pro generation with a new rear finish. Our look at the iPhone 18 Pro in Black shows the new finish up close.
Then there is the money. The 16 Pro launched at $999 for 128GB, a figure we have not verified against Apple’s current pages, while the 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB. The Dynamic Island on the 18 Pro is smaller and shows up to three Live Activities at once, a detail our Dynamic Island leak coverage called ahead of the event.
Pre-orders open Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT, with availability on Friday, September 18. Apple has not published the 512GB, 1TB or 2TB prices, and it has not said what the iPhone 16 Pro is now worth as a trade-in on the new phone.
