Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max went on sale today, September 18, starting at Rs 1,64,900 ($1,199) and Rs 1,79,900 ($1,299) — and for the first time in years there is no standard iPhone alongside them. The third new phone in the lineup is the Rs 2,99,900 iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable, which arrives in October.
Apple announced all three at its "Surprise and shine" event on September 9 at Apple Park. The company skipped a base iPhone 18 for this fall entirely, betting the September window on a premium-only slate: two Pro phones that push camera hardware further than any previous iPhone, and a notebook-style foldable that opens a new category for the company. Pre-orders for the Pro models opened September 12, first-wave availability covers more than 65 countries including India, and 20 more markets follow on September 25. iOS 27 shipped as a free update on September 14, ahead of the hardware.
A20 Pro chip: 2-nanometer silicon and a bigger vapor chamber
Both Pro models run the A20 Pro, Apple's first chip built on a 2-nanometer process. The 6-core CPU is paired with a 7-core GPU that Apple rates about 40 percent faster than the A19 Pro's graphics, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine that doubles the previous generation's AI throughput. Memory bandwidth rises roughly 50 percent over the A19 Pro — the kind of headroom that matters most for on-device Apple Intelligence workloads, which now include the Siri AI beta in English.
The thermal side got as much attention as the silicon. A next-generation vapor chamber with three times the surface area of last year's design lets the phones hold peak speeds far longer; Apple claims up to 40 percent higher sustained performance, which it calls the highest in an iPhone to date. The redesigned Dynamic Island is smaller and can now show three Live Activities at once. Colors this year are black, silver, glacier, and burgundy.
Variable-aperture camera: six blades from f/1.48 to f/4
The headline camera change is a 48MP Fusion main sensor with a mechanically variable aperture — six laser-cut blades that sweep from f/1.48 to f/4, giving photographers real optical control over depth of field instead of a software approximation. Around it sits a new computational imaging pipeline, upgraded Photographic Styles with texture and grain controls, 4K time-lapse in Dolby Vision HDR, and Cinematic mode effects at up to 60fps.
Apple also introduced Apple Reference Image, a verification system for photo authenticity — a notable move in a year when AI-generated imagery has made provenance a mainstream concern. Battery figures are aggressive too: up to 36 hours of video playback on the Pro and 45 hours on the Pro Max, with wired charging reaching 50 percent in about 15 minutes. Apple says five minutes on a cable buys the Pro Max roughly seven hours of video playback.
iPhone Duo: Apple's first foldable
The iPhone Duo folds like a small notebook: a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display inside, a 5.4-inch outer screen for closed use, and what Apple calls the thinnest iPhone yet when open. It shares the A20 Pro chip and a 48MP Fusion main camera with the Pro phones. Apple priced it firmly as a halo product — Rs 2,99,900 ($1,999) for 256GB, rising to Rs 4,49,900 for the 2TB configuration. Pre-orders open October 16 and the phone releases October 23, giving Apple a second launch moment before the holiday quarter.
iPhone 18 Pro vs Pro Max vs iPhone Duo: the numbers
| Spec | iPhone 18 Pro | iPhone 18 Pro Max | iPhone Duo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chip | A20 Pro (2nm) | A20 Pro (2nm) | A20 Pro (2nm) |
| Main camera | 48MP Fusion, f/1.48–f/4 variable aperture | 48MP Fusion, f/1.48–f/4 variable aperture | 48MP Fusion |
| Display | Super Retina XDR, smaller Dynamic Island | Super Retina XDR, smaller Dynamic Island | 7.6-inch main + 5.4-inch outer |
| Video playback | Up to 36 hours | Up to 45 hours | Not yet published |
| Storage | 256GB–2TB | 256GB–2TB | 256GB–2TB |
| US price | From $1,199 | From $1,299 | From $1,999 |
| India price | From Rs 1,64,900 | From Rs 1,79,900 | From Rs 2,99,900 |
| On sale | September 18 | September 18 | October 23 (pre-order Oct 16) |
India storage-tier pricing for the iPhone 18 Pro runs Rs 1,64,900 (256GB), Rs 1,89,900 (512GB), Rs 2,39,900 (1TB), and Rs 3,14,900 (2TB). The 256GB floor across the lineup means no more 128GB entry tier on a flagship iPhone.
Buying guidance: who each phone is for
The Pro is the default pick this year — with no base iPhone 18 in the fall lineup, Rs 1,64,900 is the entry price for a new September iPhone, and the variable-aperture camera plus the sustained-performance gains are the two upgrades owners of an iPhone 16 Pro or older will actually feel. The Pro Max earns its Rs 15,000 premium mainly on endurance: nine extra hours of rated video playback and the fastest top-up numbers Apple has published. The Duo is the early-adopter buy — a first-generation foldable at nearly Rs 3 lakh is for buyers who want the new form factor more than they want proven durability data, which simply does not exist yet for an Apple hinge.
What to watch next: October 16, when Duo pre-orders test real demand for a $1,999 foldable; September 25, when the second wave of 20 countries comes online; and the first teardowns and sustained-load tests, which will show whether the 3x vapor chamber delivers the claimed 40 percent in practice. Apple's premium-only bet has cleared its first hurdle — the phones are on shelves. The next signal is whether buyers accept a lineup whose cheapest new phone costs Rs 1,64,900.