🏆 Rating: 5/5
✅ Pros
🔋 Huge leap in battery life compared to 17 Pro Max
📸 Camera quality gets a big boost with the variable aperture
📱 Gorgeous 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display
🚀 Insane performance with A20 Pro
🎨 Colors are subtle but stunning
⚡️ Faster charging than any previous iPhone
🔊 Impressive stereo speakers
🏝️ Smaller Dynamic Island frees up more screen real estate
❌ Cons
💰 More expensive than last year
🌖 Ultra-wide camera isn’t great for nighttime videos
📐 Very thick and heavy compared to other phones
The Shortcut review
The iPhone 18 Pro Max is the easiest phone I can recommend to anyone in the market for an upgrade. It’s the biggest, baddest iPhone that Apple has ever shipped, somehow trumping the excellence of last year’s 17 Pro Max with key upgrades that take it to a whole new level. Sure, it costs $100 more than last year, but what Apple’s been able to do with performance, the camera, and the battery life makes up for it.
That being said, this phone is very similar to last year’s - almost too similar. From the weight and thickness to the huge screen, it’s not the phone to get if you want something easy to hold. It also, obviously, doesn’t unfold to reveal a bigger screen, which makes the upcoming iPhone Duo ideal for those who want iMessage on a foldable phone.
But for those who just want the best phone they can get, it’s hard to argue against the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple took everything great about last year’s phone and dialed things up to 11, making this the most powerful and capable iPhone I’ve ever tested. It also beats the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro XL in key ways that’ll give Samsung and Google some catching up to do come 2027.
✍️ Review notes
👀 The camera’s variable aperture is a big deal. The biggest upgrade that the iPhone 18 Pro Max got compared to last year is on the back. There’s a new 48MP main camera that’s equipped with a variable aperture, capable of physically opening or closing to let in more light and affect things like detail, background blur, and more. No other smartphone (at least not in the United States) has this feature, which makes it a huge deal that Apple included it on the 18 Pro.
🌃 Nighttime photos and portraits get a big upgrade. The two key areas where the variable aperture makes the biggest difference for average users is at night and when taking portraits. Because it can physically let in more light than before (automatically, mind you), your pictures and videos will look a lot sharper and more detailed than before. This is extremely helpful in dark bars, looking at the New York City skyline at night, and when I’m taking aesthetic photos of the Mango Banana Rush in Maui with the boys. For portrait mode fans, opening the aperture means a naturally blurrier background for your subject, taking your photography game to a new level.
🎛️ Even better for the pros. Apple lets you manually control how wide the aperture is open in the Camera app, which gives you greater control over how your photos look. Combined with new controls for shutter speed and white balance, creators and professional photographers are going to love the tools they have in the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro XL also have great pro controls, but neither can match what the iPhone is capable of - all thanks to that variable aperture. Plus, you can now fully customize the Camera app to show the tools you need the most right in the main view, without having to dig through settings. It’s worth toying with if you want to use pro controls more often than you are now.
🤳 How’s overall camera quality? Fantastic. The variable aperture gives the main camera a huge leg-up in performance, while the 48MP telephoto still kicks out great-looking 4x zoom shots, and even looks good at 8x. The 48MP ultra-wide camera performs well in daylight with its 120-degree field of view, but I do wish the aperture were a bit wider than f/2.8 to help at night. Still, these cameras are some of the best in the entire world of smartphones. They also deliver more reliable results with less emphasis on saturation, an area that Samsung still struggles with on the Galaxy S26 series.
📷 Digital cameras, be gone. One of the biggest social camera trends as of late has been the rise of standalone digital cameras, which deliver certain aesthetics that younger audiences love for nights out with friends, birthdays, and more. Apple wants to replicate some of that with Photographic Styles 3, its latest iteration of customization tools to give your pictures the aesthetic you want. Apple has added things like skin smoothing, glowing effects, and even film grain to make your pictures look more artsy, and you can set any of these as your default shooting mode. They’re a lot of fun to play around with and can help you get closer to the look you’re after, but I’ll admit, some third-party apps are better for replicating the look of famous digital cameras like something from Fujifilm or Kodak. Still, if you want your photos to have more personality, you have the option.
🎥 Yeah, you still can’t top iPhone video. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are the new kings of smartphone video. Nothing you capture on a Samsung or Google phone will top what you can get here, which speaks well to Apple’s processing techniques for video quality. Whether it’s during the day or at night, every clip looks fantastic. New this year is the ability to capture even better low-light video with the variable aperture, 4K timelapses, and applying Cinematic blur effects to regular video. If you need the best video camera on you at all times, it’s hard to argue with the quality here.
🔋 The best battery life ever on an iPhone. It took about nine days for my iPhone 18 Pro Max to settle in after getting it, but once it did, the battery life absolutely rocked. The device ships with a 5,567mAh battery in the United States, which is the biggest battery we’ve ever seen in an iPhone. Apple says it can last up to 45 hours when playing videos, which translates to well over a day of heavier-than-normal usage.
☀️ All day, and then some. With over four hours of screen time, a ton of camera usage, posting Reels left and right, and typing up drafts on the go, the 18 Pro Max would regularly have about 40% left in the tank at night. On light days, I could easily end a day with 60% left, which is enough to get through a second full day with no issue. This level of endurance is invaluable to me when I travel, eliminating any battery anxiety I could have. Compared to similar phones like the Galaxy S26 Ultra, I could more reliably get through a full day with the iPhone and use heavy features like the camera for longer before worrying about a charger.
⚡️ Finally, faster wired charging. The iPhone 18 Pro Max can charge at up to 53W, a big jump from the 40W charging cap on the 17 Pro Max. It lets the phone juice up to 50% in as little as 15 minutes when it’s dead, getting you back to a full charge quicker than ever before. You still get 25W Qi2 wireless charging via MagSafe, which is handy, but not nearly as convenient as wired charging has gotten. It’s made me switch back to charging with a wire at night, which I haven’t done in well over a year.
📱 Same display… Apple didn’t change anything about the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s display compared to last year. It still measures 6.9 inches, it’s still a Super Retina XDR panel, and it’s still super bright at 3,000 nits. Everything looks phenomenal on this panel, from movies to games to articles and more. It’s very spacious, too; it’s always felt like a mini tablet to me, which is nice on airplanes and on the train for passing the time while watching YouTube. That might be too big for most people which, y’know, totally fair. But in your pocket, it’s nice to have a big screen.
🏝️ … with one Dynamic difference. Well, there is one noticeable difference on the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s display: the Dynamic Island. It’s a bit smaller than last year, which lets Apple fit up to three Live Activities at the top of your phone instead of two. I never found this to be abundantly helpful in my daily use, but it’s nice that the cut-out is starting to shrink. The company had to move the infrared camera to the left side under the screen to shrink the Island, which you’ll only notice in specific lighting and doesn’t affect the performance of Face ID.
🚀 Ludicrous mode. I feel like the A20 Pro in the iPhone 18 Pro Max has enabled some sort of “Ludicrous” mode for the iPhone experience, because this chip is extremely impressive. Not only does this 2nm chip benchmark insanely high, but it also helps your games perform better, multitasking feel smoother, and all the new Siri AI features process quicker than you’d expect. We say every year how much the new iPhone is faster than the old one, and while it may sound tired, it’s absolutely true - especially this year.
🧊 Keeping things extra cool. The A20 Pro chip moves the RAM to the side to make more vertical room, which means that the upgraded vapor chamber can connect directly to the chip. This means two things: Apple was able to increase the chamber’s size by 3x and use new materials to keep your phone cool, and it means the chip itself will have a much easier time staying cool during your use. My iPhone 17 Pro Max would get the hottest when I used the camera for a long time during meetings to capture B-roll for The Shortcut Live. After using the 18 Pro Max for the same purpose, I noticed it would be a lot less warm and maintain good performance for longer. For that reason alone, I’m glad the bigger vapor chamber is here.
🔊 Booming speakers. Apple is still kicking out some of the best speakers you’ll find on a smartphone. The iPhone 18 Pro Max uses a downward-firing driver and the earpiece to deliver great sound quality. They get loud enough to use your phone as a boombox for times when you need a little energy in your hotel room or in the shower, and they have a surprising amount of bass so it won’t feel like you’re missing anything by watching a movie or YouTube video without headphones.
📱 iOS 27 brings the AI era to iPhone. Android phones have had a serious leg-up on iPhones in the AI category for a while now, but that (thankfully) is changing with iOS 27. With Siri AI, the iPhone feels way smarter than it ever has. It has personal context to give you smarter answers to your questions; it can look at your email or calendar to give you insights into your schedule and help you stay on top of things; it can see what’s on your screen to create lists or add reminders; and the Siri app lets you view all of your past conversations. I wrote more about all my favorite features in iOS 27 in a separate post, but by far the biggest shift you’ll see is in Siri, and it’s one we’ve been waiting way too long for.
📶 What’s the deal with the modem? If you’re privy to the world of smartphones, you’d know that the base iPhone 18 Pro made the switch to Apple’s new C2 modem, which offers improved efficiency and performance over previous modems. Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro Max sticks with a Qualcomm modem, namely the Snapdragon X80 5G. In my testing on T-Mobile, it’s performed perfectly fine and doesn’t offer any noticeable wireless improvements or downgrades compared to what Matt experienced on his 18 Pro. That being said, when Apple does switch the entire iPhone lineup to its own modems, we’ll have a clearer idea of how big a difference it could make on battery life and wireless connectivity.
🎨 Understated (and underrated) colors. The colors that Apple picked for the iPhone 18 Pro are much less saturated than last year’s Pro shades, but I dig them. My personal favorite is Black, which meshes way better with the industrial design of the 18 Pro Max than you might expect. It may look like an average black smartphone online, but take a look at it in person and you’ll get what I mean. I also really like the Burgundy shade, as well as Glacier. Silver is a bit more boring than it was last year since it no longer has a two-tone finish, but it looks good enough for fans of more basic colorways.
📐 Still a bit too big. This isn’t necessarily unique to the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but it’s worth reiterating for the rest of the industry: I know we all want big screens in our pockets, and folding phones do help solve that problem more often than not, but it’d be nice to have a candy bar phone with a big screen that’s thin and light. The iPhone Air has spoiled me with its slim form factor and light weight, and while I don’t expect the iPhone Pro Max series to ever reach the same design, I do hope that Apple at least makes it lighter and shaves off a couple of millimeters in the future. At 8.75mm thick and 249 grams in weight, this thing is a chonker, to say the least.
Should you buy the iPhone 18 Pro Max?
Yes, if…
✅ You’re using an iPhone 16 or older and need an upgrade
✅ You need the best battery life in an iPhone
✅ You care about camera quality and want to use professional tools
✅ You play a lot of mobile games
✅ You want a big screen for watching movies on the go
No, if…
❌ You have an iPhone 16 Pro or newer
❌ You want to be able to use your phone with one hand (get the iPhone 18 Pro)
❌ You want to save money (get the iPhone 17 or iPhone Air)
❌ You prefer Android over iOS (get the Pixel 11 Pro XL or Galaxy S26 Ultra)
❌ You want your next phone to fold (wait for the iPhone Duo)
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut and co-host of The Shortcut Live. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.
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