Photo Data Signing, Dual 16‑Core Neural Engine, and the A20 Pro Chip: What's Inside the iPhone 18 Pro

During Apple's Surprise and Shine launch event, the company introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max. They will be available for pre-order in just two days, starting September 12. The latest smartphones were built with machine learning tasks in mind and have numerous AI-based features. "Total AI powerhouse" is how Apple describes the new iPhone models.

One of the most important advancements is Apple's new A20 Pro chip, announced as their "most powerful and efficient iPhone chip design ever." It has a vapor chamber that covers a 3 times larger area compared to the iPhone 17. This allows for more efficient heat dissipation "so you can push high-intensity gaming and run larger, more complex AI models on your device for longer," Apple states. The iPhone 18 Pro Max also got a significant improvement in battery life: it handles 45 hours of video playback and charges up to 50% in 15 minutes.

To power up its AI-driven smartphone design, Apple added new neural accelerators. First introduced in 2017, these NPUs are now built into every device powered by an A-series (starting with A11) or M-series processor. They're designed to speed up on-device tasks that rely on machine learning, including routine processes like voice control and face recognition. The new iPhone models feature a Dual 16‑core Neural Engine and 50% higher memory bandwidth.

With every new iPhone model, you get an even better camera with more possibilities to create clean, cinematic shots. This time, Apple added a 6-blade camera diaphragm to its 48MP Fusion Main camera for variable aperture, giving you more precise control over depth of field. You can set the aperture to ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, or ƒ/4.0 depending on the lighting conditions and the level of blur you need in the background. 

Here is an example of a photo taken with the camera aperture set to ƒ/1.8:

While the 6-blade diaphragm adjusts the aperture for better lighting and depth of field automatically, you can control it manually thanks to Apple's new Pro camera controls. You can set whichever shutter speed, white balance, and histogram you need for the perfect picture. With Photographic Styles 3, you can also make in-app grain and texture adjustments and fix them later once the shot is taken. 

Speaking of camera improvements, a lot of the things you do are powered by Apple's native AI system – Apple Intelligence. First, the new iPhones feature smart editing tools: you can reframe the shot once it's been taken, expand it beyond the frame, or remove unnecessary objects in seconds. Smart focus tracking is a feature that allows you to lock onto a subject not only while they're moving but also when they leave the frame and reappear. 

Your iPhone 18 Pro camera sensor will also keep track of what it sees at the time of capture. It will carry out pixel-level signing of photo data with every shot taken, so you can always prove the authenticity of your pictures. Yes, even a photo of your dog's lipoma you took for the vet can (and will) be verified.

If you really love the concept behind the BeReal app, Apple's newest smartphones feature Dual Capture video. You can record videos using both the front and main cameras simultaneously for a dual view. With Apple's Audio Mix, you can remove distracting background noise from your videos to keep the music and the voices clear and audible. And once again, thanks to Apple Intelligence, you can film better-quality low-light videos with smart aperture and frame rate adjustment. 

The new smartphones are available in 4 colors with color-matched back glass: Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is a 6.9-inch device, while the iPhone 18 Pro is a bit smaller at 6.3 inches. The latter starts at $1,199 for 256 GB of storage, and the former starts at $1,299 for the same amount of storage. 

Aside from the new-generation iPhones, Apple presented its very first foldable smartphone – the iPhone Duo. It's powered by the same vapor-cooled A20 Pro chip and features a 48-megapixel camera just like the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. 

Learn more about the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max here and subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

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